A review by juliana_reads
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

dark emotional tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Lucrezia is vigilant. Lucrezia is herself. Lucrezia can choose her own tempo, can increase it, can slow it down. She can gallop, sprint, through the gardens; she can spring over the hedges and paths, her body a streak of colour in the dim light, her ribs a vessel for her leaping heart. And when she reaches the forest, the trees will close about her, all the animals and birds within will send up their questions to the sky in squawks and cries, and she will wait with them, watching, for the first rays of cold morning light, which will feel restorative and forgiving on the complex silk of her skin.

I loved this book. Slow burn, except the reader is waiting for a murder. I personally liked the chapters alternating; it created tension that climaxed when the timelines merged at the end. Even though it’ a long book covering 16 years, it didn’t feel long. Every chapter of Lucrezia’s childhood and adolescence gave the reader insight. 

I saw a few reviews on here that said Lucrezia was unlikeable but I didn’t feel that way. She was barely 16 years old and was raised to birth powerful sons. She had no agency, and therefore likeability wasn’t a factor for me. 
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