Today it is my turn on the blog tour for A Net for Small Fishes by Lucy Jago published on 4th February by Bloomsbury. Huge thanks to Ros Ellis for inviting me along…and without further ado let me take to the court of James I . But keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you!

From the first pages of this novel the prose is alive with intrigue, vibrancy and glorious detail. Each page leads us further and further into a court whether appearance is everything and alliances are made and broken in the blink of an eye.

This is the tale of courtiers and power, but our chief guides are Frankie, Frances Howard – Countess of Essex and her confidante, serving woman and friend Anne Turner. Thrown together through circumstance, both women are intelligent, cunning and ready to make the most of whatever opportunity comes their way.

Frankie is trapped in a loveless, abusive marriage to Robert Devereux. Desperate, first to please and then to escape her husband she uses Anne’s knowledge of fashion, apothecary and alchemy to help her.

Anne is a doctor’s wife, but is a business women in her own right, holding a patent to a fashionable yellow starch. But despite her intelligence she remains at the mercy of the fortunes of the rich and crucially the men in her life.

When the King’s favourite Sir Robert Carr catches Frankie’s eye the two women work together to gain the ultimate prize. But to do so they must take unimaginable risks and put everything they have on the line.

From the beginning of this story there is an air of tension, of dangerous games being played with high stakes, where the factions of court are built on the shifting sands of family ties and religion. Where fortunes constantly rise and fall and favourites of the Crown attract as many enemies as they do admirers.

Life at court is a one continual and dangerous game, where the stakes are high, and where women need to rely on what little power they have to keep ahead. For both Frankie and Anne their power lies in their sexuality, cunning and intelligence. And they will need all of this to advance their cause and ultimately stay alive.

This is a story of power, of betrayal but crucially of the friendship and compassion of women. With a cast of characters that are unforgettable, dripping with decadence and detail, and whose fortunes change in the blink of an eye.

Heartbreaking, beautiful and unforgettable.

Rachel x

And there is more…

For more review and reactions to this glorious books, check out the rest of the blog tour below…