Moira, Ru
and I went along to St Mary Redcliffe Church tonight to hear Maggie O’Farrell
talk about her work – and, in particular, her latest novel “The Marriage
Portrait”. The book imagines the story of Lucrezia, daughter of Cosimo de’
Medici, who married Alfonso d’Este, the Duke of Ferrara in 1558… but, a year
after entering her husband’s court in 1560, aged just 16, she died. The novel was
inspired by Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” which describes a painting
portraying the young woman who actually lived. I’ve yet to read the book for
myself (Moira’s just about to finish our copy) but, in it, Maggie O’Farrell
imagines 16th-century Italian courtly life and the brief days of a girl forced
into marriage at a very young age.
O’Farrell
is a wonderful, natural speaker and communicator – eloquent, beguiling, amusing
and informative. I’m a great fan of her writing and “The Marriage Portrait”
will be the fifth book of hers that I’ve read (I think). I’ve loved all the
books of hers that I’ve read, but “Hamnet” was very, very special.
The evening
– which was organised by our wonderful local Storysmith bookshop - was a great
success… and all the more so for us because, when Moira mentioned the
difficulty she has in hearing what’s said at such events to Storysmith’s Dan
and Emily, they set aside three seats in the front row for us! How special was that!?
Great event. Wonderful speaker.
Photo: the view from our front row
seats.
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