Review of The Marriage Portrait

This book was catnip for me. Highly recommended.

It's set in 16th-century Italy. O'Farrell clearly did her research into the material conditions of everyday life, the politics of dynasty and inheritance, and, most importantly, the mindsets that nobles, courtiers, artists, and servants would have possessed. Depth of detail does not make a novel good on its own, but O'Farrell marries her deep knowledge of the past with rich, carefully crafted prose that subtly adds or reinforces detail about the book's setting, and skillfully conveys the psychology of Lucrezia, the willful protagonist who struggles against what is expected of her before and after being married off to produce an heir for Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara.