Praise:
" A glittering, propulsive new novel . . . Few writers play as confidently with the nuts and bolts of language, and historical characters netted from the past. O'Farrell adroitly shrinks Lucrezia to her own vanishing point, even if the probable cause of the duchess's demise was a pulmonary embolism rather than poison. O'Farrell's creative license beautifully frames the chasms that open up between husband and wife, implicating an institution that has galvanized our canonical writers, including the Victorian poet Robert Browning, whose dramatic monologue 'My Last Duchess' was inspired by Branzino's portrait of Lucrezia." -Oprah Daily
" O'Farrell pulls out little threads of historical detail to weave this story of a precocious girl sensitive to the contradictions of her station . . . You may know the history, and you may think you know what's coming, but don't be so sure. O'Farrell and Lucrezia, with her 'crystalline, righteous anger,' will always be one step ahead of you.. . . O'Farrell [is] one of the most exciting novelists alive." -The Washington Post
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