Just finished The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell and really found it a gripping read. Set during the mid-sixteenth century in Italy where a much too young Lucrezia de Medici is betrothed and wed to Alphonso d'Este Duke of Ferrara in an arranged marriage; loosely based on what facts are known. Having had to study this period for history exams where dates, battles and treaties were all-important, O'Farrell's writing brought to life the violent times, the casual cruelty and in particular the 'place' of high-born women . . . and in the case of Lucrezia, a very short life.

I highly recommend it.