THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023A Reese's Bookclub December Pick (2022)An Instant Sunday Times New York Times and Irish Times Bestseller (August 2022)A Guardian and LitHub Book of the Year (December 2022)'Every bit as evocative and spellbinding as Hamnet. O'Farrell thank God just seems to be getting better and better' i newspaper'Her narrative enchantment will wrest suspense and surprise out of a death foretold' Financial Times'Ingenious inventive humane wry truthful . . . better than her last novel' Scotsman'Finely written and vividly imagined' Guardian'In O'Farrell's hands historical detail comes alive' SpectatorWinter 1561. Lucrezia Duchess of Ferrara is taken on an unexpected visit to a country villa by her husband Alfonso. As they sit down to dinner it occurs to Lucrezia that Alfonso has a sinister purpose in bringing her here. He intends to kill her.Lucrezia is sixteen years old and has led a sheltered life locked away inside Florence's grandest palazzo. Here in this remote villa she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband.What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso ruler of a province and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival.The Marriage Portrait is an unforgettable reimagining of the life of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.