This is a story of how Anne’s moral compass is compromised again and again as she tries to serve Frances. As the enemies of the Howards grow stronger, Frankie and Anne face the gravest of dangers in a society determined to crush women daring to challenge the limitations placed upon them. With lowered eyes, all I could see were clerks and their writing desks round their necks; it frightened me to know that these proceedings would be read for evermore.

A Net for Small Fishes is a compelling weave of imaginative fiction with meaningful historical disclosures. As these two forward thinking women navigate their position in this unashamedly man’s world, they commit wrongdoings with far reaching consequences. the former makes pittance to provide for her children while the latter rubs shoulders with those in political power.The fact that all of the action is filtered through Anne’s voice means that some of Frankie’s escapades have a slightly secondhand air to them, and Carr never really convinces as a replacement for the vile Essex. Highly recommend checking out A Net for Small Fishes as it was a fascinating read based on a real life scandal taking place during the reign of King James. The book sits well in its time and has the reader feeling at the heart of the Royal Court in the early 17th. It is also a real testament to the beginnings of the fight for equality and shocking in the attitudes towards womankind.

From that moment on he is obsessed, a crazed visionary repeatedly depicting the scene and the unknown figure within it who filled his view at the moment of impact. Lucy Jags cleverly uses a minoré character in Anne Turner to tell the story of Frances Howard and the ‘Overbury Plot’. 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.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. Awe possessed me like a devil, jumping on my organs, pulling the strings of my eyes' - Wait, 'jumping on my organs'? It demonstrates the strength, loyalty of a true friendship between Anne and Frances as well as their courage as they are vilified. Accessible and absorbing novel that fleshes out the true story of two women accused of the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in 1613. 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.