“A Net for Small Fishes is strung so tight with suspense that I read with my heart in my throat, watching as Anne and Frankie meet the myriad, shifting treacheries of their lives with an awe-inspiring largeness of spirit, loyalty and love. This novel immersed me so fully in another world that I seemed to breathe its air, walk its halls—yet for me its greatest achievement lies in the vivid life it gives these women, who are forces of nature but also fully human and who dare to try to carve out a space in their world that can fit them. Their story is spellbinding.”

—Clare Beams, author of The Illness Lesson

“Brilliant … Jago’s striking depictions of bearbaiting and court mourning, wedding breakfasts and adulterous trysts capture both the brutality and the refinement of Jacobean London. Anne’s shrewd narration grounds the novel’s explosive drama even as she slides toward mortal danger one apparently logical choice at a time. It adds up to a remarkable exploration of the power, limits and price of women’s friendship. This is a sparkling achievement.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Jago presents a realistic and absorbing tale based on historical events, convincingly portraying the Jacobean period and personal relationships during that time between husband and wife, lovers, and female friends. Her characterization is rock solid, and Anne’s voice resonates in this drama about how life choices, what is permissible and what isn’t, especially for women, form a slippery slope that can end at the gallows.”

—Booklist (starred review)

“Enthralling and moving.”

—People

“Sumptuous … If you’re feeling bereft after finishing The Mirror & the Light, let Jago transport you back to the Jacobean court.”

—The Telegraph (UK)

“Bravura historical debut … Jago keenly conveys the peril of being a woman of any class in the seventeenth century.… Like all the best historical fiction, A Net for Small Fishes is a gloriously immersive escape from present times, but it’s not escapism.”

—The Guardian

“A superb exploration of female agency, sexuality and class … A scintillating novel that plunges you headfirst into a darkly compelling chapter of British history.”

—The Observer (UK)

“Riveting … In a narrative that brims over with color and invention, Jago summons up Jacobean London with enormous persuasiveness.”

—The Sunday Times (UK) (Book of the Month)

“A powerful take on a fascinating piece of history.”

—The Times (UK)

“Rich in intrigue and incident, with a cast of vividly drawn characters and a wealth of detail on every atmospheric page, this is a fabulously engaging read.”

—Daily Mail (UK)

“Will bring wit, wisdom, joy and comfort to your reading pile … There’s no messing about in Lucy Jago’s A Net For Small Fishes. From the first chapter you’re plunged into the dark intrigues, violence, vying for position and cruelty of the seventeenth-century Jacobean court as society beauty Frances Howard meets Anne Turner, whose way with bodices, stockings and eyelashes is unequaled.”

—Stylist