“The Marriage Portrait” by Maggie O’Farrell

https://youtu.be/lRHLgUqCAOE?feature=shared
In Person Meetup/

Note: the book club meet preceding this “Guns & Almond Milk” by Mustafa Marwan on Tuesday 25Jun, and the one following it is “Time Shelter” bu Georgi Gospodinov on Thursday August 29.
• What we'll do

Finish reading, then join us in person, share your insights and possibly converse with the author over a meal and/or drink(s) at Bar Storia del Caffè, The Salil Hotel. It’s on Soi Sukhumvit 57 and is 5-minute walk from BTS Thonglor station.

Approximately 352 pages. It’s available at either Asia Books or Kinokuniya (https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/bw/9781472223821) for 435 baht. Or get it aon kindle for $12.99. Alternatively you listen to it on audible.com.

Synopsis
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf.

Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble?

As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court's eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess's future hangs entirely in the balance.

• Important to know

No entrance fee, no membership fees. Your patronage of the cafe is highly appreciated, as usage of their facility is without charge. Expect meal/drink to average 400 baht thereabouts.