A Net for Small Fishes
London, 1609. Anne Turner, seamstress and mother of six with a much older husband and heavy debts, can’t believe her luck when she’s hired to make over Frances Howard Devereux so that she’ll entice her husband, the Earl of Essex. But even the most beautiful, vivacious young bride in England fails to please the earl, who abuses her because he can’t consummate the marriage. Worse, their strife poses political consequences, for Frances and her husband unite the country’s most powerful houses, also sworn enemies.
So Mistress Turner, seamstress, is sailing in choppy waters. To her surprise, a friendship develops, as Frances relies heavily on Anne’s guidance. But she’s no easy charge and has dangerous tastes, in particular a deep, powerful attraction to Robert Carr, the king’s favorite. All eyes, and not just those of Frances’s boorish husband, are watching.
The narrative intersects with that of The Poison Bed, Elizabeth Fremantle’s take on this infamous intrigue. But where Fremantle fixed on court politics and the tempestuous romance, Jago, though she follows those narratives, concentrates on the two women and a feminist theme. Does a woman wronged by her beast of a husband really have no recourse?
Jago’s authorial hand is remarkably sure, especially for a first novel, and I admire her prose for its descriptive power and emotional content, with which she tells a riveting story. But despite my sympathy for Frances, I find less feminist substance concerning the daughter of an earl who marries another earl; Anne’s struggles carry more weight there. I’m also not persuaded of Anne’s venal side, which supposedly seduces her into taking risks.
Even so, A Net for Small Fishes makes a fine literary thriller, a genre that requires both subtlety and narrative drive. Jago is an author to watch.
