Enjoyed the authors note at books end where she explains why she wrote this and what she was attempting to portray. She needs to tone down that poetic over-phrasing and torches going force in general, and learn to not wonder off without continuing the crux or plot line sufficiently. The intricate complexities of the Jacobean court are beautifully told but it is the relationship between these two women, Frances Howard, Countess of Essex and Mistress Anne Turner as they play the cards life has dealt them that is both riveting and contemporary.

This created a sense of distance to the events that wasn’t overcome by Anne and ‘Frankie’s’ supposed close relationship. Frances Howard has been married off to the Earl of Essex, a political union, and certainly not a love match. Anne thrums with life all the way through to her tragic, gruesome end, while Frankie is calculating and alluring. Jago tells her story by focusing on a close friendship between two women of different status who would work together and try to change their fates during a time when women were meant to accept their places - the places that their fathers, husbands, and brothers made for them.

The book sits well in its time and has the reader feeling at the heart of the Royal Court in the early 17th. Anne is widowed and finds in her solitary status new freedoms but also increasing obligations, stripped of the physical and financial protection of a man. Lucy Jago highlights a real life 17th century historical scandal set in the reign of James I of England, a blend of fact and fiction that addresses the misogyny of the time in this feminist retelling of the surprisingly strong friendship that sprang between the beautiful Countess of Essex, Frances 'Frankie' Howard and the physician's wife, Mistress Anne Turner, a gifted fashion stylist struggling to find a platform to market her talents in London society. Within a few breathless chapters, Anne has followed Frankie into the court of King James, who takes a shine to Frankie and praises her attire.

We can see the change from one to the next of his portraits – from William Larkin to Peter Paul Rubens. Both women are unhappy with their current situations, but not much you can do when you are living in a time when all females are expected to be silent, loyal, and obedient.A desperate plan to change their fortunes is hatched--but navigating the Jacobean court is a dangerous game and one misstep could cost them everything. Lucy Jags cleverly uses a minoré character in Anne Turner to tell the story of Frances Howard and the ‘Overbury Plot’.

These, though, are small gripes compared with the many things there are to love in this scintillating novel that plunges you head-first into a darkly compelling chapter of British history. The epilogue at the end seemed a little unnecessary to me, but it tied up a few loose ends, especially for those not aware of the historical events. The poet and courtier Thomas Overbury was already in the Tower of London when he died, apparently of natural causes, in 1613; two years later, accusations that he’d been poisoned reached King James, and suspicion settled on the king’s favourite – and Overbury’s close friend – Robert Carr, now Earl of Somerset, and his wife Frances Howard.Unlike ‚Hamnet‘, which is also a slow burn and which I absolutely loved, this book wasn‘t able to compensate for the slowness with stronger writing or characterization. There are many detailed incidents of violence and sexual sadism (including rape) which are far closer to Game of Thrones than Bring Up the Bodies.

Set in the English court of King James I, Jago has woven a heart-breaking story based on the “Overbury Scandal” when Frances Howard and Anne Turner were accused of poisoning the courtier Thomas Overbury, two years after his supposed “natural” death in The Tower of London” in 1613. But as Anne starts to rise in the world of the elite, accompanying Frankie on her journey of wanting to be rid of her abusive husband, will they be able to stay friends or will dark forces and those who only want to see them fail bring an end to them both? I would have liked more on the ins and outs of court life, but it was fascinating to get a bit of insight into the bizarre nature of James I's court (his favourites included!Lucy Jago’s A Net For Small Fishes is a flawless slow-burning historical fiction novel with breathtaking characterisation and complex female relationships, featuring a writing style that really feels of the time and is ripe with metaphor and rich imagery. The language used is appropriate to the times, is colourfully vivid and you can hear Anne’s voice clearly as she describes the many political machinations, elbow jostling for favouritism and ascendancy at court, the plots and subsequent dangers. Shrewd yet impetuous, entirely without self-pity, Anne remains a lively companion for the modern reader throughout; her tragedy, Jago suggests, is that she was too good a companion to Frances.