The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell Groundswell Speaker 2024 One wrong move may result

One wrong move may result in her instant dismissal

threatening to tear it apart from the inside

religious extremism and royal collapse

But there's a price to pay for using this blood skill

a German bookbinder working in London

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell Groundswell Speaker 2024 One wrong move may resultWinter, 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.