OPEN A BOOK,OPEN THE WORLD
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩
by Maggie O’Farrell
★根據真實歷史改編
★紐約時報暢銷書𝙃𝙖𝙢𝙣𝙚𝙩
★2023年女性小說獎決選
【義大利貴族婚姻悲歌】
麥地奇家族第三千金 Lucrezia 出生於1550年代的佛羅倫斯，身為小女兒的她在皇室如幽魂般不起眼，但 Lucrezia 絲毫不在意，反倒甘之如飴，相較姊姊們處處受到矚目，Lucrezia 不須承擔婚姻重擔，得以恣意追求自己所愛的藝術。然而，姊姊 Maria 不幸在婚禮當晚意外死亡，顛覆了 Lucrezia 的命運。本該迎娶姐姐的費拉拉公國公爵，竟轉頭就要 Lucrezia 嫁給他，自己的父親更是輕易將自己拱手讓人。
稚氣未脫的Lucrezia，就這樣誤打誤撞遠嫁他鄉，初來乍到的她十分不適應當地的習俗，那裡的人民似乎也不怎麼歡迎她的到來，而如謎一般的公爵 Alfonso 更令 Lucrezia 困惑不已。自己許身的丈夫，究竟是婚前幽默風趣、談吐得體的紳士，享受藝術家與音樂家圍繞的審美家或是連親姐姐都戒慎恐懼的冷血政治家？究竟什麼是公爵 Alfonso 的真面目？
身著緊身華服，端坐於畫布後方 — 年輕的 Lucrezia 從未料想自己本該自由追尋藝術的人生，竟淪落政治聯姻，而身為女人，更是被皇室視為延續費拉拉盛世的生產工具，甚至若無法完成傳宗接代的使命，她的未來也生死未卜…
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.
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.
