General Book Club

Do you like reading books from a variety of genres? Want to start digging a little deeper into the books you read?

Would you like to read more but just don’t know where to start? Join the Audelia Road Book Club which meets every 1st Thursday of the month.

This month's book is:

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

 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.   Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet , Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival. -- From the Library Catalog.

See http://bookclubs.arlf.org for more information about the Book Clubs. Fill out this form to request to join or leave the mailing lists, or send an e-mail to bookclubs@arlf.org.

We hope to see you!