Must Get Monday is something I found on Becca’s blog @ The Becca Files (@thebeccafiles), which she’s been doing for quite a while now. I’ve been meaning to do one myself, and since I have a small window, I figured, why not join in, right? Becca says:

Whether it’s an upcoming release, new release, or even one that has been out for ages that you haven’t purchased a copy of yet, Must Get Monday highlights those books you just can’t wait to get your hands on to dive into.

Today I’m featuring the upcoming novel by Maggie O’Farrell – The Marriage Portrait.

This is only my first time doing this so… be gentle, okay?

I’m not sure how I found out about this book, but O’Farrell has been an automatic buy for me for some time now. This one is due out from Knopf Publishing Group this coming August 30 in the UK, and September 6 in other countries (I’ve already ordered my copy, but if I see the ARC somewhere, you know I’ll ask for it as well). Here’s the summary for this book.

Florence, the 1560s. Lucrezia, third daughter of Cosimo de’ Medici, is free to wander the palazzo at will, wondering at its treasures and observing its clandestine workings. But when her older sister dies on the eve of marriage to Alfonso d’Este, 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 to accept on her behalf.

Having barely left girlhood, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate her appears 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 uncomfortable finery for the painting which is 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 Ferrarese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, her future hangs entirely in the balance.

So? Does this sound good to you? It sounds fascinating to me! You can pre-order this book (via the following affiliate links): Amazon, Foyles, The Book Depository (UK and US), Waterstones, WHSmith, Kobo (eBook and Audiobook), eBooks.com, Books-a-Million, Better World Books, iTunes (iBook and iAudiobook), Bookshop.com, UK.Bookshop, or an Indiebound store near you.

What about you?

What book are you aching to read?