A Net for Small Fishes: ‘The Thelma and Louise of the seventeenth century’ Lawrence Norfolk

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The “secretest love” that both Overbury and the king bear for Robert is merely hinted at in passing, but a well-placed historical letter from James I conveys his shocking strength of feeling. I liked Ms Turner who is determined to survive all hardships and who developes special feelings towards Frankie, an aristocratic lady suffering abuse in her marriage. At the age of 15, Frankie's family arranged a political marriage for her with the Earl of Essex, a man who loathed the Howards. It demonstrates the strength, loyalty of a true friendship between Anne and Frances as well as their courage as they are vilified. It is also a real testament to the beginnings of the fight for equality and shocking in the attitudes towards womankind.

It is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate how difficult it was for women to navigate the royal court scene and obtain equality, independence and romantic relationships. It didn‘t captivate me, it kept me just interested enough to finish it, although I have to admit I almost considered putting it down.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. As a resident of East Lancashire I feel the necessity to correct any misunderstandings as to the whereabouts of my home town.

Somewhere between the language, overdone metaphors and feminist retelling of an historical scandal, this book lost me.Throughout the novel, surface detail is deftly handled to convey deeper anxieties and shifts in attitude. As the Countess of Essex, Frankie suffered physical and mental abuse from her husband in a marriage fraught with family loathing, religious hatred, and partisan suspicion. I can see how some people would like ‚A Net for Small Fishes‘, and in parts, I found it interesting, and desperately wanted to like it, but overall, it bored me. You can almost smell the stinking Thames, the filth strewn streets with the noxious rising miasma and rottenness and damp of some of the houses. An insipid debauched individual he is unable to consummate their marriage so mercilessly begins to beat and humiliate his wife.

Poet and courtier Thomas Overbury was already in the Tower of London when he died, apparently of natural causes. In a Net for Small Fishes, Lucy Jago paints a credible account of the actual events surrounding the death and trial over Sir Thomas Overbury but places the two women at the centre of the story and addresses an imaginatively unique perspective they faced. the writing and humour are reminiscent of a modernised austen - that same acerbic wit and satire viewed through a contemporary lens. I love the historical fiction genre, but it's pretty rare for me to pick up a book set in the 17th century.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.