The Mistress Of Nothing

The Mistress Of Nothing

by KatePullinger (Author)

Synopsis

Lady Duff Gordon is the toast of Victorian London. But when her debilitating tuberculosis means exile, she and her devoted lady's maid, Sally, set sail for Egypt. It is Sally who describes, with a mixture of wonder and trepidation, the odd menage marshalled by the resourceful Omar, which travels down the Nile to a new life in Luxor. As Lady Duff Gordon undoes her stays and takes to native dress, throwing herself into weekly salons; language lessons; excursions to the tombs; Sally too adapts to a new world, affording her heady and heartfelt freedoms never known before. But freedom is a luxury that a maid can ill-afford, and when Sally grasps more than her status entitles her to, she is brutally reminded that she is mistress of nothing.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Published: 10 Jun 2010

ISBN 10: 184668711X
ISBN 13: 9781846687112
Book Overview: Based on Lucie Duff Gordon's Letters from Egypt, this is a lushly evocative period novel.

Media Reviews
Absorbing, intimate, Pullinger's story of a loyal English maidservant's awakening during a journey to an 1860s Egypt in turmoil is also a subtle observation of the play of power and love -- Lisa Appignanesi
The Mistress of Nothing serves up spicy passion and romance and biting social comment in one delicious dish. Kate Pullinger's fascinating novel brings 1860s Cairo and Luxor to life, not as an Orientalist fantasy, but as they might actually have been -- Anthony Sattin, travel writer and journalist
The fascination of her deft narrative lies partly in the contrast made between then and now, and partly in the satisfaction of participating in one woman's determination to survive -- Elizabeth Buchan * Sunday Times *
Author Bio
Kate Pullinger was born in Canada, and moved to London in 1982 where she still lives. She is the author of Tiny Lies, a collection of short stories, and the novels When the Monster Dies, Weird Sister and A Little Stranger (published by Serpent's Tail). She collaborated with Jane Campion on the novel of the film The Piano, and has written for film, television and radio. She teaches Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University.