Shopify Vendor: O'Farrell, Maggie

‘Every bit as evocative and spellbinding as Hamnet. O’Farrell, thank God, just seems to be getting better and better’ i newspaper’Her narrative enchantment will wrest suspense and surprise out of a death foretold’ Financial Times’Ingenious, inventive, humane, wry, truthful . . . better than her last novel’ Scotsman’Finely written and vividly imagined’ Guardian’In O’Farrell’s hands, historical detail comes alive’ SpectatorMarriage was her destiny. Now she must survive it. The breathtaking new novel from the No. 1 bestselling author of Hamnet, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020. **AS SELECTED FOR BBC RADIO 2 BOOKCLUB** The Marriage Portrait is a dazzling evocation of the Italian Renaissance in all its beauty and brutality. Winter, 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. What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso, ruler of a province, and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival. The Marriage Portrait is an unforgettable reimagining of the life of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.

The new children’s book from multi-award-winning author of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell, paired once more with Daniela Terrazzini’s stunning illustrations.

When Jem and his family move to the countryside, he doesn’t like his new home one bit. It’s an old cottage on the side of a hill, where strange things keep happening: shoes are filled up with conkers, the stairs become tangled in a woollen maze. Jem’s sister Verity is certain it is the work of a “nouka”, an ancient creature from local folklore that lives deep down inside the hill. Jem, however, is adamant that there is no such thing. But this small mythical creature, so attuned to the hearts and minds of others, does exist. And, what’s more, it is determined, through mischief and mayhem, to help Jem reignite the spark within himself once more.