These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.
In the opening sentences of The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell reveals that the protagonist—a teenage girl in late-Renaissance Italy—will be dead in less than a year, likely at her husband’s hand. Lucrezia, who’s 15 at the time of her arranged marriage to a duke, is hit with an eerie premonition about her fate, and begins to observe her husband, carefully noting the circumstances that will lead to her death. The novel—which follows O’Farrell’s 2020 hit Hamnet—shines with historic detail and elegant prose. —Angela Haupt
Buy Now: The Marriage Portrait on Bookshop | Amazon
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Donald Trump Is TIME's 2024 Person of the Year
- Why We Chose Trump as Person of the Year
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good or Bad for You?
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- The 20 Best Christmas TV Episodes
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
