5-Page Book Club: The Marriage Portrait
Suspense centered on characterization
What I’m Reading and Watching Lately
I’ve heard from several readers of The Writer’s Attic that they’d like to know what I’m reading or watching, so I’m going to occasionally incorporate this short section into newsletters.
Severance, Season 2. I’m obsessed with this science fiction show about people whose minds are split between their work life and their home life.
The White Lotus, Season 3. I’ve watched the previous seasons of this thriller, each season of which is set at a different lavish resort, and I’m determined to correctly guess who murders whom this time around. No theories so far, alas.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. I got my paws on an early copy of this rom-com about two writers competing for a huge scoop, and I’m loving the sweet and witty dialog that Emily always brings to the page.
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. I thought this murder mystery told from the POV of a flock of sheep would be fun and funny, but it’s also surprisingly philosophical and poignant.
The God of The Woods by Liz Moore. Do you need a totally engrossing page-turner of a suspense novel… set at summer camp?? Look no further.
Next Week on The Writer’s Attic
Readers Have To Believe Your Story: how to fix the holes in your story's logic. We’ll talk about the specific challenges faced by writers of speculative fiction, YA, mystery, and romance novels, but we’ll also look at general ways to make sure readers don’t scoff at your story.
5-Page Book Club: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
“He has brought her here, to this stone fortress, to murder her.”
Welcome to 5-Page Book Club, in which we read five pages of a novel to see what we can learn as writers. This feature is for paid subscribers; free subscribers get a short preview.
Today, let’s discuss five pages of Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait, a historical novel about a young duchess who believes her husband plans to murder her. The novel is a New York Times bestseller, a Reese’s Book Club pick, and one of my favorite recent reads. The author is probably best known for her previous novel, Hamnet.
You can read the first five pages of The Marriage Portrait here for free.
Immediate Danger, Quick Characterization
The story starts with the main character, Lucrezia, realizing that her husband “intends to kill her.” Her epiphany occurs in the very first paragraph, so that we’re immediately launched into danger. It’s followed by an explanation that the characters have just arrived at an isolated hunting lodge, so that we understand no one is coming to save Lucrezia.
Throughout the prologue, the tension never lets up, even though there is very little activity. Lucrezia only listens to her husband speak and reflects on the fact that she is sure she’s in danger. Although nothing much happens in these opening pages, the beautiful, ominous prose remains captivating:
The certainty that he means her to die is like a presence beside her, as if a dark-feathered bird of prey has alighted on the arm of her chair.
The simplicity of the scene allows for Lucrezia’s fear to be the focus. Even while her husband makes no threatening moves, we believe Lucrezia’s dark interpretation of his intentions because she tells us that he led her here through freezing cold at a punishing pace, and because he mentions that as a child visiting this same lodge, his father made him “release arrow after arrow towards a target on a tree until his fingers bled.”
These ominous details not only convince us that death approaches but also serve to quickly characterize Lucrezia’s husband, the duke. We immediately understand that he is a harsh man who likely had a harsh childhood, that his father probably raised him to be aggressive.