As I didn't know that much about the actual history of Frances Howard, her marriages or her involvement in the death of Thomas Overbury, I read this book mostly as a story of a friendship, and of two women trying to find contentment and security in their lives. ( )

An ambitious 17th century drama filled with scandal describing the close friendship between Frances Howard, Countess of Essex and a talented fashion stylist, Anne Turner. Frances needed her confidant because Essex was a brutal, obnoxious husband, undistinguished in his career and derided at court by his claims.

Although it appears well-researched, Jago's writing is immature. Part of that immaturity shows in the florid metaphors and a grandiose style emulating Mandel's Wolf Hall. Told from Anne Turner's point of view made it implausible. Just how much can a servant overhear?

The title refers to the results of justice, where small fish are caught while the big fish get away. ( )

London, 1609. Anne Turner, mother of six with a much older husband and heavy debts, looks to increase her income from “fashioning” for wealthy ladies, her sideline in medicinal concoctions being less lucrative. Indeed, it is as a fashion consultant that Katherine, countess of Suffolk, has summoned her to dress her daughter Frances, countess of Essex. Anne’s task: to get Frances out of bed, ready to please her husband, Robert Devereux, the earl of Essex.

But the earl is not easily pleased, even by the most beautiful, vivacious young wife in England. Only an empty-headed bully, coward, and brute with multiple axes to grind could treat Frances Howard so badly she’d refuse to leave her bedchamber. But Essex is all that, and more: He’s impotent and can’t consummate the marriage, which only adds to his shame, prompting him to abuse his nineteen-year-old bride even further.

Moreover, there are politics involved, as always among English aristocrats. Frances Howard is one of those Howards, the family with which Tudor monarchs had to reckon, as do the Stuarts now, in the court of James I. And Essex’s family is the Howard faction’s sworn enemy.

So Mistress Turner, seamstress and herbalist, is sailing in deep, choppy waters, but she’s ambitious. She has claim to social respectability, through this or that marriage or cousin, and she’s always liked finer things, of which she’s had a taste. Consequently, though she resents being ordered about by Frances’s mother, as if she were a servant, the young countess draws her in, and not just as a means for advancement.

A most unusual friendship develops, as Frankie, as she’s known to intimates, relies heavily on Anne’s guidance. Impulsive, passionate, and unguarded in tongue, the neophyte noblewoman requires a steadying hand, whereas Anne sees in her protégée a kindly soul craving warmth and protection. To be sure, the commoner also revels in court intrigue and the display of wealth and pomp to which she has access through Frankie.

But Frankie’s no easy charge to look after, and she has dangerous tastes, in particular a deep, powerful attraction to Robert Carr, the king’s favorite. All eyes, and not just those of Frankie’s boorish husband, are watching — and Anne is dragooned into acting as go-between.

The narrative therefore intersects with that The Poison Bed, Elizabeth Fremantle’s take on the Howard-Carr intrigue. But where Fremantle fixed on the cut-and-thrust of court politics and the tempestuous romance, Jago, though she pays attention to those facets of the story, concentrates on the friendship between the two women. She casts her narrative as a feminist tale, a woman wronged by her beast of a husband; has she really no recourse?

Jago’s authorial hand is remarkably sure, especially in a first novel. From the beginning, the reader will admire the prose, descriptive and emotionally evocative at once. With such keen observation, the novel renders the manner in which the court honors or breaks reputations, and what happens as a result. There are a few decent people about, but they must be watchful, for no one falls faster or harder than the lucky person elevated in esteem, then dropped; and courtiers take delight in revenge, whenever they can. Though court life is a standard in historical fiction portraying this era, I nevertheless note Jago’s persistent eye to the human cost, as with the innocent offspring of the figures cast down.

I’m not sure I find as much meaning in the feminist aspect of Frances Howard’s predicament as Jago intends, maybe because, as the daughter of one earl and wife of another, our countess is hardly representative. (I find more of that thematic substance in Anne’s story.) I see the issues involved with Frances — it’s hard not to — just not the claim of deep significance. I’m also not persuaded of Anne Turner’s venal side, because we’re told it rather than shown.

But all the same, A Net for Small Fishes is a splendid novel, evocative and moving, and I highly recommend it. Few authors can bring off literary thrillers, but Jago does. She’s an author to watch. ( )

Lucy Jago's narrator, Ann Turner, is one of the "small fishes" caught in a notorious murder plot and trial set in the court of James I. The story is based on actual events involving Frances Howard, a beautiful daughter of the powerful Catholic family. Frances was at the center of two of the greatest scandals of the day, her request for an annulment of her marriage to the Earl of Essex, and the murder by poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, close friend of her second husband, King James's favorite (and most likely his lover), Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset. I don't want to spoil the novel for anyone by giving away too many factual details, so I will leave it at that.

Jago opens her novel at the first meeting of Frances and Ann Turner, a doctor's wife and designer of the latest fashions. She has been called to Frances's rooms by her mother with orders to dress her for a court appearance. A disheveled Frances is in tears and bears the marks of a beating. The two women hit it off and become fast friends, and Ann becomes the Countess's confidante, privy to the secrets of her unhappy marriage and, later, to her romance with Robert Carr. in many ways, this is a story of female friendship, but it also exposes the brutal world of the court, a world where, as Ben Jonson wrote, people climb on each others' heads to get to the top of the social ladder. While Ann does like Frances, there's no question that she uses their friendship to get ahead and that Frances in turn uses her to fulfill her desires. As a "small fish" compared to Frances, it's no surprise that she suffers greater consequences.

The story will be familiar to anyone who has read much about the court of James I, but Jago makes it interesting by telling it from Ann's point of view. She's a middle class woman longing for access to the court. Her husband is much older, and we learn early on that the youngest of her six children were fathered by another man--with her husband's blessing, since he could no longer able to satisfy her and since this lower level aristocrat has promised to marry Ann if she is widowed. But when George dies, the wedding is delayed, and her eldest son turns her and her three youngest out of the house to fend for themselves. No wonder she clings to hopes that her friend "Frankie" will provide for her.

This is a story of ambition, betrayal, friendship and passion. Jago does a good job of bringing it all together and making her characters sympathetic. If there is a villain here, one would have to say that it is the court and the king who offer temptations only to snatch them away. ( )

Frances Howard is a beautiful, well connected young aristocrat married to the abusive Earl of Essex. Anne Turner is an unconventional, talented woman in her mid thirties, middle class but not aristocratic. They strike up and unlikely friendship and try to improve their circumstances, provoking a seventeenth century scandal. ( )