

The first O‘Farrell novel I‘ve read, and I feel no compulsion to read anything else of hers.She can write beautiful, poetic prose, full of imagery - but doesn‘t she want us to know that?! The very lengthy descriptions detract from the story.
And that story is basically a very flowery psychological “thriller”. Whilst inspired by the life of Lucrezia de Medici, it‘s a near-complete rewriting of history.
Overall, a disappointing read.