The Marriage Portrait

In the winter of 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 in the icy hall 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, guarded by her father's soldiers and her mother's ladies-in-waiting. Here, in this remote villa, however, she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband. What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge ? What chance does she have against Alfonso, the ruler of a province, and a trained soldier ? How can she ensure her survival ? The Marriage Portrait is a vivid evocation of the beauty and brutality of Renaissance Italy, and of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.