My Rating: 4.9
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia is the third daughter of the grand duke. She is comfortable with her obscure place amongst her siblings in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf.
Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. .
The book opens with Lucrezia fearing for her life and then flashes back to how she came to be married to the Duke and so far from her family. This is a retelling of Lucrezia de Medici who had to marry her sister's fiance, had a short marriage before dying of TB but there were speculations that she had been poisoned by her husband. I love how it captures Renaissance Italy and the writing was full of beauty and emotion. This completely captured me and I will definitely be reading more of O'Farrell's books.
This was a good one. I want to pick up Hamnet soon. Several people in my book club told me Hamnet is even better.
ReplyDeleteJeana
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I have Hamnet on my holds list and can't wait for it to come in. I love her writing style! ♥
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