Bloomsbury Recommends

Lucrezia de Medici is vividly bought to life in this stunning new novel from Maggie O’Farrell . Lucrezia is the odd one among her sisters: a keen observer of the world around her, passionate about art and nature, more interested in her artistic pursuits than the goings-on of the Florentine court. When at the age of fifteen she is thrust into a marriage meant to increase her family’s power and influence, she begins to understand the workings of the world outside of her cloistered existence, realizing that her destiny may not be of her own choosing. In O’Farrell’s hands, the 16th century feels all too familiar in this story of a young woman yearning for freedom and autonomy. – Diana