A review by elliemcc11
A Net for Small Fishes by Lucy Jago
5.0
Thanks to Netgalley & publisher for the ARC.
Whilst many books have been centered around the Tudor court, I, personally, have read less books about the Stuarts, so this intrigued me, along with the description explaining it was based on a true story. And I really enjoyed this book and was totally immersed in the retelling of the Overbury Scandal, and the history of the friendship between the Countess of Essex and Mistress Anne Turner.
The Countess of Essex (Frances Howard or Frankie) was a young and unhappily married woman. Her husband was an unpleasant character and engaged in what today would be regarded as domestic abuse. The novel contains graphic descriptions of abuse, including physical and sexual, but they give necessary context to the story, which is written in the first person by Mistress Anne Turner. Mistress Anne Turner was the wife of a doctor who attended James I and has access to the court and went to dress the ladies including Frankie. She and Frankie formed a close friendship, initially to help Frankie have a happy marriage, but as the abuse continued they set about using all means possible in a bid for the Countess of Essex to be parted from her husband. Whilst the Countess of Essex was eventually able to remarry the man she loved, it came at great personal tragedy.
Whilst many books have been centered around the Tudor court, I, personally, have read less books about the Stuarts, so this intrigued me, along with the description explaining it was based on a true story. And I really enjoyed this book and was totally immersed in the retelling of the Overbury Scandal, and the history of the friendship between the Countess of Essex and Mistress Anne Turner.
The Countess of Essex (Frances Howard or Frankie) was a young and unhappily married woman. Her husband was an unpleasant character and engaged in what today would be regarded as domestic abuse. The novel contains graphic descriptions of abuse, including physical and sexual, but they give necessary context to the story, which is written in the first person by Mistress Anne Turner. Mistress Anne Turner was the wife of a doctor who attended James I and has access to the court and went to dress the ladies including Frankie. She and Frankie formed a close friendship, initially to help Frankie have a happy marriage, but as the abuse continued they set about using all means possible in a bid for the Countess of Essex to be parted from her husband. Whilst the Countess of Essex was eventually able to remarry the man she loved, it came at great personal tragedy.