The Broker vs The Portrait of a Lady: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Italy, Americans, Fiction
The Broker
With 14 years left on a 20 year sentence, notorious Washington powerbroker Joel Blackman receives a surprise pardon from a lame duck President. Smuggled out of the country, he is given a new identity and tucked away in…
vs
The Portrait of a Lady
Young American Isabel Archer charms European society, but falls prey to the machinations of a calculating older woman.
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Broker is the quickest read — about 6 hours vs 11 for The Portrait of a Lady.
- The Portrait of a Lady has the widest readership — 86678 ratings behind its score.
- The Portrait of a Lady reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 34 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Broker | The Portrait of a Lady | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.8 (86678) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (1) | 3.7 (75) |
| Google Books | 4.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (540) | 4.0 (12) |
Reception
| The Broker | The Portrait of a Lady | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 540 | 86678 |
| Editions | 46 | 432 |
| Citations | 21 | 34 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 136198 |
| Reading it now | — | 5833 |
| Written reviews | — | 4724 |
| Wikipedia attention | 998 | 13411 |
| Pages | 376 | 634 |