A Net for Small Fishes
Author: Lucy Jago
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 335
Format: Paperback (proof copy)
My Rating ★★★★★
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 335
Format: Paperback (proof copy)
My Rating ★★★★★
Today is the fourteenth day of November, 1615. I have known Frankie for nearly seven years. She is twenty-five years old and eight months pregnant. I am thirty-nine years old and about to die or be pardoned.
We are all caught, from the highest to the lowest, in nets of custom and propriety.
Those that cut free do not swim away but are destroyed.
Based on a true scandal which rocked seventeenth-century England – the unforgettable story of two very different women navigating the pitch-dark waters of the Jacobean Court.
My thoughts:
A Net for Small Fishes is a sumptuously written historical fiction is based on the Overbury Scandal that in 1615 rocked the Court of James I. Within its pages, Jago has given voice to two women portrayed by history in a villainous light: Anne Turner and Francis (Frankie) Howard.
Anne Turner, the older of the women, serves as the novel’s narrator, so we experience people and events through her awareness. Whilst this novel is set in seventeenth century England, there is much to interest today’s reader. Lucy Jago explores domestic abuse, female solidarity, motherhood, class distinctions and the power of the patriarchy.
The book is a brilliant blend of fact and fiction that powerfully addresses the misogyny of the time. When Anne Turner ends up in a chance encounter with Frankie, a woman of very high and different means to her own, a friendship is instantly formed which will be tested to beyond breaking point.
It is a great story and offers a compassionate viewpoint, told via the growing friendship of Frances and Anne. The plot centres around the marriage of Frances to the abusive Earl of Essex, her affair with the King’s favourite Robert Carr and the poisoning of poet Sir Thomas Overbury along with the subsequent trial.
In particular I found the trial and the final portion of the book to be the most emotionally powerful, focusing on the injustices and expectations of women in that time. Lucy Jago will have you truly believing you are a part of Anne’s world as she fights her way to stay by Frankie’s side. Thankfully we have come a very long way since then!
I have always enjoyed reading historical fiction, but Lucy Jago has managed to bring the characters to life and weave a story that will captivate any reader. I read this in two sittings, and I was so immersed in the story of the two women. Highly recommend!
*I received an uncorrected proof of this book by the publisher, in advance of the Bloomsbury Night In event. Thank you again to Bloomsbury and The Tandem Collective for providing me with this debut novel in exchange for an honest review.*
Overall reaction:
A Net for Small Fishes is a sumptuously written historical fiction is based on the Overbury Scandal that in 1615 rocked the Court of James I. Within its pages, Jago has given voice to two women portrayed by history in a villainous light: Anne Turner and Francis (Frankie) Howard.
Anne Turner, the older of the women, serves as the novel’s narrator, so we experience people and events through her awareness. Whilst this novel is set in seventeenth century England, there is much to interest today’s reader. Lucy Jago explores domestic abuse, female solidarity, motherhood, class distinctions and the power of the patriarchy.
The book is a brilliant blend of fact and fiction that powerfully addresses the misogyny of the time. When Anne Turner ends up in a chance encounter with Frankie, a woman of very high and different means to her own, a friendship is instantly formed which will be tested to beyond breaking point.
It is a great story and offers a compassionate viewpoint, told via the growing friendship of Frances and Anne. The plot centres around the marriage of Frances to the abusive Earl of Essex, her affair with the King’s favourite Robert Carr and the poisoning of poet Sir Thomas Overbury along with the subsequent trial.
In particular I found the trial and the final portion of the book to be the most emotionally powerful, focusing on the injustices and expectations of women in that time. Lucy Jago will have you truly believing you are a part of Anne’s world as she fights her way to stay by Frankie’s side. Thankfully we have come a very long way since then!
I have always enjoyed reading historical fiction, but Lucy Jago has managed to bring the characters to life and weave a story that will captivate any reader. I read this in two sittings, and I was so immersed in the story of the two women. Highly recommend!
*I received an uncorrected proof of this book by the publisher, in advance of the Bloomsbury Night In event. Thank you again to Bloomsbury and The Tandem Collective for providing me with this debut novel in exchange for an honest review.*
Overall reaction: