#the marriage portrait

[derangedrhythms]

To look into her eyes was to behold the visage of an incandescent, forbidden deity.

Maggie O'Farrell, from 'The Marriage Portrait'

#maggie o'farrell #the marriage portrait #prose #eyes #the holiness and horror of divine things #p

[edwardslovelyelizabeth]

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

"Sadness keeps attempting to tie weights to her wrists and ankles, therefore she has to keep moving, she has to outpace it."

#the marriage portrait #maggie o'farrell #lucrezia de medici #litedit #literature #bookedit #books #librarysource #booknet #storyseekers #novelsnet #booksociety #fictionnet #fictiondaily #chaptersnet #litsociety #bookrl #my edit

[sardinesinthegarden]

My fave reads of 2023 in a collage zine :•)

#super happy with this tbh #zines #web weaving #book recommendations #books #2023 books #death and the penguin #klara and the sun #the marriage portrait #we have always lived in the castle #the dutch house #people from my neighborhood #collage #collage zine #zinester #book zine #My zines

[oldshrewsburyian]

Currently reading: Maggie O'Farrell, The Marriage Portrait

#historical fiction #maggie o'farrell #the marriage portrait #many thoughts about this but i want to wait to Discuss until i have finished #currently reading #adultbooklr

[ghostresidues]

on a literary historical fiction kick at the moment if anyone has any recs pls lmk 🙏

#stuff along the lines of wolf hall #the marriage portrait #a net for small fishes #etc etc #preferably about a year prior to 1750 #i’m an early modern/medieval girlie

[brian-in-finance]

Twitter 📚 Event Info 🎟️ Tickets

Trespasses

Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion.

Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast. By day she teaches at a parochial school; at night she fills in at her family's pub. There she meets Michael Agnew, a barrister who's made a name for himself defending IRA members. Against her better judgment - Michael is not only Protestant but older, and married - Cushla lets herself get drawn in by him and his sophisticated world, and an affair ignites. Then the father of a student is savagely beaten, setting in motion a chain reaction that will threaten everything, and everyone, Cushla most wants to protect.

As tender as it is unflinching, Trespasses is a heart-pounding, heart-rending drama of thwarted love and irreconcilable loyalties, in a place what you come from seems to count more than what you do, or whom you cherish.

Goodreads

Remember when we learned we may hear an accent much like Ma’s on 24 May when Caitríona reads from Trespasses? ☘️

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 #Shortlist Book Club Online #22-24 May 2023 #The Marriage Portrait #Maggie O’Farrell #Fire Rush #Jacqueline Crooks #Pod #Laline Paull #2022 #Trespasses #Louise Kennedy #2023 #Caitríona Balfe #Reading #24 May 2023 #Twitter

[mirthofbooks]

Currently reading 🐅📖

#booklr #currently reading #books #the marriage portrait #maggie o'farrell #haven’t logged in in a minute #whoops #really enjoying this book so far

[diaryoftruequotes]

Sadness keeps attempting to tie weights to her wrists and ankles, therefore she has to keep moving, she has to outpace it.

Maggie O'Farrell, The Marriage Portrait

#Maggie O'Farrell #The Marriage Portrait #quotes #book quotes

[derangedrhythms]

[She] stares at him and something seems to solidify in the air, in the beams of their eyes, flowing from her to him and back again, creating an almost tangible channel between them. [She] wouldn’t be surprised if others in the room were able to see it: it would be coloured red, or blue, or fluctuating between the two, towards purple, and it would crackle audibly. It would be impossible to cross the room at this moment without getting caught by it: the channel or connection between them would repel others from it. It occupies a space of its own.

Maggie O'Farrell, from 'The Marriage Portrait'

#maggie o'farrell #the marriage portrait #prose #one of those mysterious electric things between people #o

[brucklethings]

“A silver, crepuscular glimmer lies low on the floor. She tiptoes through it, fancying that her feet will become stained by its luminous glow. That by morning she will discover she has left tell-tale bright footprints behind.”

— Maggie O’Farrell, The Marriage Portrait

#Maggie O’Farrell #the marriage portrait #books #quote #words #reading #this image was just so gorgeous

[missglass]

2022, the year of great books

i had a fantastic reading year in 2022. these were some highlights in no particular order:

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi. What a peculiar little book. A man lives in a gigantic ruinous house - a kind of castle with grand halls and statues - where life is dominated by the tides of an ocean in the lower levels of the building. The protagonist is a kind man with almost child-like curiosity, he seems like a monk living with the utmost worship for this strange place. Like the house, the story unfolds like a labyrinth and as a reader you only slowly discover what exactly is going on. Best read in January by the sea.

Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads. I mean, yes, guys like Franzen rewrite the same kind of book again and again, but man, are they good at it. I'm a sucker for the same story told from multiple perspectives, and who doesn't love to think about God and a complicated relationship with faith through the eyes of one of the most pathetic protagonists I have read about in the past years, a housewife with the most unhinged backstory, and a bunch of unnecessarily dramatic children.

Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire. One of my absolute favourites. A retelling of Antigone set in modern Great Britain about three siblings - a set of twins and their older sister - whose father was a jihadist. I found the classic themes of Antigone - struggles with family, duty, sacrifice - really well updated to reflect more contemporary struggles with identity, faith, as well as political issues like immigration and the toll it can take to be pulled into two different directions: tradition/modernity, fitting in/staying connected to your roots, conforming/preserving some form of inherited cultural identity.

And yes, you obviously know how the story ends from the start, but the ending is still so heartwrenching. As we know from Fleabag, the greatest love stories are still between siblings ("the only person i'd run through an airport for is you" and such).

Ali Smith, Autumn and Summer. I have been a fan of Smith since reading "How to Be Both" and I am now three quarters through her beautiful Seasonal Quartet. I hardly know another author who writes about our contemporary times with such ease. i love how art is always present in her works and how her prose is playing sly tricks on the reader. she is sometimes so literal in her imagery that you can only think something is meant poetically or metaphorically, only to find out two sentences later how it was indeed meant literally.

Rachel Cusk, Transit and Kudos. One of my favourite discoveries of 2022. I loved reading about Faye's encounters and her conversations with friends and strangers alike. It reminds me a bit of Salinger's "Nine Stories" in the best way, enough love and squalor to please Esmé. Especially Transit was so full of great stories; Cusk really is able to capture that uncomfortable, liminal space in between two situations, to describe what it means to go through upheaval, to not know how something will turn out. To know something old - a relationship, a flat, a homecountry - was not the right fit, but not knowing at all that what will come will be any better.

Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait. "Hamnet" is a fictional account of Shakespeare's youngest (real) children - insightful, inutitive twins Hamnet and Judith - as well as of their mother, Agnes (the secret protagonist). O'Farrell's descriptions of grief and quiet domesticity are very lovely. The scenery is a bit mystic or unsettling at times, especially chapters about Agnes' life, and I found the novel generally beautifully written. (As the Guardian put's it: "read it and weep").

The Marriage Portrait takes place in Renaissance Florence and also features a very insightful, inutitive child, Lucretia de' Medici, the smart and rebellious daughter of the Duke of Florence. This story is about her arranged marriage at 15 to the Duke of Ferrara, and - as stated on the first page of the book - about the rumour that her husband killed her less than a year after their wedding.

I found the book quite suspenseful, but also very tender, poetic and loving. Also, I love books about artists and seeing through their eyes how they approach their art, which was a big part of TMP.

Honorable mentions:

Stine Pilgaard, Meter pro Sekunde - features my personal favourite, most fun protagonist of 2022.

Katja Oskamp, Marzahn Mon Amour - tales of a pedicurist/podiatrist and her clients.

#stine pilgaard #hamnet #maggie o'farrell #rachel cusk #transit #kudos #ali smith #autumn #summer #jonathan franzen #crossroads #home fire #kamila shamsie #susanna clarke #piranesi #books #the marriage portrait #metaphysical spells

[booksandtreesplease]

#books #booklr #bookworm #reading #cosy #maggie o'farrell #the marriage portrait #wine #christmas

[oldshrewsburyian]

In bed, at night, lying awake, or kneeling on the floor during Mass, she would consider the pieces and fragments of the story she had heard, like a gambler sifting through game counters, weighing them up, trying to put them into order.

The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell

#the marriage portrait #maggie o'farrell #book quotes

[mercerislandbooks]

Book Notes: The Marriage Portrait

I have a handful of authors who belong to a select category labeled “I will read anything you write.” I find their prose irresistibly compelling, no matter the subject, no matter if the characters are likable, no matter if (gasp!) the ending is hopeful. Ann Patchett. Emily St. John Mandel. And Maggie O’Farrell.

When I read the description of her newest novel, The Marriage Portrait, I thought, I’m not sure I want to read a historical novel about a girl in Renaissance Italy, who is raised in privilege for the sole purpose of making an advantageous marriage, makes said marriage, and is dead less than a year later. You know the end before you even begin. And then I remembered listening to Hamnet, subtitled, “A Novel of the Plague.” Who wants to read that in the middle of a pandemic? But it was elegiacally sublime, meticulously crafted with the most perfect of perfect endings. So I picked up The Marriage Portrait and it swept me away. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Our heroine, Lucrezia di Cosimo de’Medici, is depicted with a depth and complexity that takes the reader from her earliest days as part of an increasing brood of noble offspring meant to further the Medici’s dynastic power, to her unusual artistic abilities, to her eventual marriage to Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Florence. Throughout the narrative we have the sense that Lucrezia is a person seeking to be as free as she can, even as the prison of her birth and sex close around her. O’Farrell’s descriptive genius inhabits the very atmosphere of this book. She brings to life the smells of an exotic menagerie housed in a palazzo basement, the heat of a summer garden in the countryside, the confines of a room one is not allowed to leave. I was completely immersed in Lucrezia’s world, and increasingly perplexed on what O’Farrell was going to do with the plot given her parameters. Let’s just say I should never doubt her again and allow myself go along for the ride.

Come pick up a copy of The Marriage Portrait today, and if you want to see Maggie O’Farrell in person, she’ll be at Seattle Arts and Lectures on October 11th!

— Lori

#island books #lori robinson #maggie o'farrell #the marriage portrait #seattle arts and lectures

[brianadrawsbooks]

Usually, I only paint an illustration from a book if I loved the book. However, this was inspired by The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell, which I actually was pretty frustrated by. It's a great concept and has stunning prose, but the plot ended up not really working for me. A rich, privileged person surviving by sacrificing their servant just isn't a triumphant ending I can cheer for...

But anyways, there were some intense, gorgeously written scenes in this book that just demanded to be painted. So this piece is based on Lucrezia's river god dream sequence, and I had so much fun working on it. It's partly inspired by Botticelli and the other Renaissance artists mentioned in the book and very heavily inspired by my fascination with art nouveau hair.

Also, I just want to give a shout-out to my very supportive, patient partner who doesn't question it when I say, "babe, I need help with a pose for a painting, can you come pretend to be a possessive, passionate river god who is both ambiguous and a little threatening?"

#watercolor #book art #art nouveau #artblr #fantasy art #traditional art #watercolor painting #renaissance #maggie o'farrell #the marriage portrait #book fanart #art Nouveau hair

[brian-in-finance]

Women's Prize for Fiction: Shortlist Book Club Online

Our much-loved online shortlist events are back! Join Kate Mosse, the six Women's Prize shortlisted authors and a host of celebrated actors.

Date and time

Mon, 22 May 2023 7:00 - Wed, 24 May 2023 8:30 BST

Location

Online

Welcome to the 2023 Women’s Prize Shortlist Book Club online! Over three evenings in May, join host Kate Mosse, the six shortlisted authors and a line-up of celebrated actors for a joyous celebration of women’s writing.

Featuring readings from the shortlisted novels, candid chat from the authors, and your chance to shape the conversation, this is the ultimate book club.

This year we want you to get even more involved! From all over the world, you’ve been reading along with the judges and discovering this year’s books – and now it’s time to have your say. Share your questions for the authors – or simply an interesting take on one of the books – and it may be featured on the night. Either enter your question when prompted on the order form or email it to [email protected], with the subject line SHORTLIST BOOK CLUB.

And if you’d like to delve into the books’ themes ahead of the event, look out for our bespoke reading guides, which will be shared with all ticketholders ahead of the event.

Full line-up details will be announced over the coming months. And in the meantime, get reading, stock up on snacks and settle in for three nights of inspiring book chat with readers from around the world…

–––––––––––––––––––

Each shortlisted book will be paired with a world-class actor, who will perform an exclusive reading.

Monday 22nd May 2023, 7.00pm BST: Barbara Kingsolver + Priscilla Morris, chaired by Kate Mosse, featuring readings from actors to be announced

Tuesday 23rd May 2023, 7.00pm BST: Maggie O'Farrell + Jacqueline Crooks, chaired by Kate Mosse, featuring readings from Lashana Lynch and another actor to be announced

Wednesday 24th May 2023, 7.00pm BST: Louise Kennedy + Laline Paull, chaired by Kate Mosse, featuring readings from Caitríona Balfe and another actor to be announced

Getty

See this time zone converter to check your local live streaming time.

You can buy a single night ticket for £10 or get access to all three nights for £25. All tickets include a catch-up link.

Once you have bought a ticket, on each day of the programme you will receive an automatic Eventbrite email containing a new Zoom link allowing you to access that night's event. If you are unable to attend live, you will receive an email with the viewing link the day after the live event, so you can watch on catch up.

Following the shortlist announcement in April, you will have the option to purchase the shortlisted books as a ticket add-on, with an exclusive discount offer courtesy of our retail partner Bookshop.org.

The Women’s Prize Trust’s mission is to change the world through books by women, opening up pathways into reading and writing for the storytellers and booklovers of tomorrow. When booking your Women’s Prize LIVE ticket, you’ll be invited to add a £5, £10 or £20 donation to your ticket. Every donation contributes towards our work with underrepresented writers and readers from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Refunds are available up to 48 hours before the day of each event.

From £11.18

Get Tickets

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Remember… Caitríona will be reading on Wednesday, 24 May.

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 #Shortlist Book Club Online #22-24 May 2023 #The Marriage Portrait #Maggie O’Farrell #Fire Rush #Jacqueline Crooks #Pod #Laline Paull #2022 #Trespasses #Louise Kennedy #2023 #Thanks castlemaine123