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The Mistress Of Nothing

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 1,739 ratings · 373 reviews

Lady Duff Gordon is the toast of Victorian London. But when her debilitating tuberculosis requires healthier climate, she and her 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. When Lady Duff Gordon undoes her...more

Paperback, 248 pages

Published September 1st 2010 by McArthur & Company (first published July 9th 2009)

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Jun 13, 2011 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, africa, british, fiction, mideast, totally-unexpected

At first I was a little taken aback that this book was not written in the voice of Lady Duff Gordon, on whose letters this novel was based. I thought I might prefer the voice of the woman whose entrance into a room made the party brighter, suddenly more fashionable, very au courant. Lady Duff Gordon suffered from a malady of the lungs, which required a warm, dry climate rather than that of England at the turn of the 20th century. She left her family and moved to Egypt with her lady’s maid and sp...more At first I was a little taken aback that this book was not written in the voice of Lady Duff Gordon, on whose letters this novel was based. I thought I might prefer the voice of the woman whose entrance into a room made the party brighter, suddenly more fashionable, very au courant. Lady Duff Gordon suffered from a malady of the lungs, which required a warm, dry climate rather than that of England at the turn of the 20th century. She left her family and moved to Egypt with her lady’s maid and spent the bulk of her time in Luxor, home of the tombs of the pharaohs and the Sphinx. She enjoyed a wide circle of friends among the local intelligentsia.

Little was recorded of her lady’s maid, Sally Naldrett, but this is a book told in her voice—how first Lady Gordon shed her English clothing and mannerisms, and then Sally did. How they both became acclimatized to life in Egypt, learned Arabic, and how Sally felt she had shed her old, lonely maid’s life for a life both warm and passionate. How she outgrew her position of servility alone, and became a woman on her own terms. The story is lightly and quickly told, but develops an urgency in its later pages that belies the sunny outlook of its beginning.

In writing this novel, Kate Pullinger drew on biography of Gordon written by Katherine Frank, called Lucie Duff Gordon: A Passage to Egypt, published in 1995. It was republished in 2007 by Tauris Parke Paperbacks and is said to show the sparkling nature of the vivacious Lady Gordon. A darker side of that character is hinted at in this novel, leaving lingering questions about a widely admired woman whose family shunned her, and who shunned others, brutally and unforgivably, in return. One is eager to turn to the original materials to get to the heart of the matter. One feels sure there is still a novel in the material there, this time from the view of Lady Duff Gordon (1821-1869), whom even the Prince and Princess of Wales came to visit in Luxor when she was too ill to travel.

This is a small, pocket-sized book which can transport you to places far off and long ago, and for that, it is amply worth the time and expense of acquiring it. Later, when I was looking through Kate Pullinger's website, I came across a blogpost speaking of Ellen, Sally Naldrett's sister, who makes an appearance in the book. It gives one tingles to think that rich lives went unrecorded and unremembered until now.(less)

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Oct 29, 2012 Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was quickly drawn into this story based on the life of Lucie Duff Gordon. This unusual, progressive woman, whose life is greatly affected by TB, left her family to live in Egypt in the hope of healing in the warm climate. The story takes place in the mid 1800s. Her only companion for the voyage is her maid, Sally, who is herself unusual given her station in life. Drawing from Duff Gordon's letters, the author describes vividly what the two women experience on the journey both in terms of the c...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Jenn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This book was recommended to me by a friend and overall, I’m glad that I picked it up. The Mistress of Nothing is a fictionalized account of the scandal that befell the handmaid of Lady Duff Gordon (of Letters From Egypt fame) while the latter was living in Egypt to ease her tuberculosis. I have not read Letters From Egypt, but I found myself really interested in the events from that book and how they relate to the events in The Mistress of Nothing. I found myself wondering, “Did that really hap...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

This novel won the GG for fiction in 2009 and I'd been meaning to read it for a while. It takes place in Victorian England and Egypt and is in the voice of Sally Naldrett, a lady's maid to Lady Duff Gordon. Pullinger was inspired by reading the letters of Lady Duff Gordon and wondering what happened to Sally afterward.
Sally really did work for Lady Duff Gordon and accompanied her abroad on more than one occasion, including her trip to Egypt. Sally had been loyal to "her lady", assisting in treat...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Arti rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book sounds so promising at the start. I was intensely interested at first, but dissolved into indifference and finally even annoyance. Based on the real historical figure of one Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon (1821-1869), an English woman self-exiled to Egypt due to incurable illness (TB). Staying in England would only hasten her demise. So she took her long-time lady's maid Sally Naldrett with her to hopefully salvage some remaining quality days. She survived seven years in Egypt. From Luxor she h...more The book sounds so promising at the start. I was intensely interested at first, but dissolved into indifference and finally even annoyance. Based on the real historical figure of one Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon (1821-1869), an English woman self-exiled to Egypt due to incurable illness (TB). Staying in England would only hasten her demise. So she took her long-time lady's maid Sally Naldrett with her to hopefully salvage some remaining quality days. She survived seven years in Egypt. From Luxor she had written a series of letters over those years, mailing them back to England to her family. The letters were later published as a book. Her story is based on historical facts. Her maid Sally was also a real-life character. But what happened to her during those years is totally up to the author's own imagination.

Sally falls in love with an Egyptian servant Omar who works as a cook and a butler for the Lady. The lovers lead a secret love life without the detection of anyone. Sally later is pregnant with Omar's child. They later marry and she continues with her pregnancy in Lady Duff-Gordon's home. The fact that Sally carries the child until delivery without anybody noticing, especially not her lady, is a quite beyond comprehension. What more, Lady Duff Gordon's reaction to her is unconvincing as well. Known for her benevolence to the Egyptian people, and a progressive woman resisting any totalitarian powers, Lady Duff-Gordon somehow is so seized with rage that she drives Sally away from her home. And yet she keeps Omar close to her to continue as her trusted and faithful servant.

Lots of potentials to depict in a nuanced and deeper way the power relations (like e.g. Girl with a Pearl Earring) and cultural and personal conflicts remain untapped. Well, maybe not exactly untapped. Rather, the narration is straight forward and lacks depth. All feelings and thoughts are laid out explicitly, leaving the readers with very little room for their own imagination, and too scanty an offering of literary enjoyment. Winner of the GG? I'm truly baffled. (less)

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Sep 07, 2012 Diana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sally Naldrett is the very devoted personal maid of Lady Lucie Duff Gordon who was a dynamic personality in Victorian London. Lady Duff Gordon who is referred to as Lady in the book, was popular with many well known people including Alfred Tennyson. She is known for her book, “Letters from Egypt”. Unfortunately, she had tuberculosis and it seemed the only way to combat the disease was to go to Egypt and live in a dry climate. She left her husband and family behind in England and travelled first...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Karen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 01, 2012 Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I give this book four stars for holding my interest from 1st to last page. It's based on the true story of the maid to Victorian socialite and writer Lady Duff Gordon. LDF has TB and so exiles herself from England and her family by traveling up the Nile with her maid. Excellent descriptions of the journey(especially the effect of heat)and also the town they finally settle in for a few years. Just enough of the political scene to explain a few things that effect them. A houseboy is hired and teac...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Rosemary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: historical fiction fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I knew nothing of the famous Lady Duff Gordon going into this book (her letters - what was in them and what she chose to leave out - form the basis of the novel), but that didn't hamper my enjoyment. Mistress of Nothing was my favourite kind of historical fiction - strong female characters, set in an era, culture or geography I know little about and a compelling story that I don't already know the ending of. Huzzah!

The story is about Lady Duff Gordon's travels in Egypt as she tries to stave off...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Augusta Leigh rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was exceptionally disappointed with this book; I was reading an Advanced Reader's Edition, so perhaps the official release is better. However, I doubt that the sheer underwhelming nature of this book would have been revised.

For a travel/adventure story, particularly one that is meant to emulate a Victorian expedition to Egypt, I found the narrative to be extremely lacking in the sensory detail and vivid description that I craved. The most sensuous Pullinger's language got was to state the obvi...more I was exceptionally disappointed with this book; I was reading an Advanced Reader's Edition, so perhaps the official release is better. However, I doubt that the sheer underwhelming nature of this book would have been revised.

For a travel/adventure story, particularly one that is meant to emulate a Victorian expedition to Egypt, I found the narrative to be extremely lacking in the sensory detail and vivid description that I craved. The most sensuous Pullinger's language got was to state the obvious and describe how 'hot' it was in Africa. The broken Arabic strewn throughout did less to garnish the book with atmosphere and more to give it the feel of a reading exercise for a foreign language class. The book felt all together rushed without these details, yet simultaneously the actual narrative dragged and dragged considerably. I succumbed easy to distraction while reading this. There was also some anachronistic language, and a mere spattering of vaguely relevant allusions and famous figureheads throughout the beginning of the novel (which left me quite curious as to why some appropriate allusions were ignored). Nothing felt particularly Victorian or English, nor did anything feel particularly Egyptian.

The didactic first chapter of Sally's reflection excited me at the prospect of examining the sociological implications of class (and subsequently race) throughout the text; but most of these were inserted at the last possible moment in the latter chapters of the book, leaving the reader with considerable ambiguity prior to these (view spoiler). Other inconsistencies (such as name references and in-frame recollections) stand out, as well.

I genuinely wanted to enjoy this; but I felt that what there was to enjoy was scant and undefined. No significant character development happens until the latter half of the novel, and even then all of the characters are fairly weak and fractured without much emotional investment in any of the dramatic events. There was very little room to sympathize with Sally and her situation in spite of it being the default setting, since Omar's wife, Omar and Lady Duff Gordon were portrayed in the darkest shadows suddenly after standing under the hottest spotlights. I was astonished to read that this book has received accolades for having "one of the most distinctive and memorable voices in recent literature," as even though the entire book was from her perspective, I ended without really knowing who Sally was or why her story particularly mattered.(less)

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Nov 04, 2011 Elizabeth Periale rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

… Omar’s wife Mabrouka is offstage for the first part of the novel, living with his parents in Cairo. Since the story is being told from Sally’s perspective, Mabrouka is not exactly a villain, but she is a presented as a negative character. But then we meet her. Not only is she sympathetic to Sally and her predicament, but she is a well-rounded enough character to be portrayed as jealous and competitive for her husband’s attention. Pullinger had a great chance to really run with a story of unlik...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Historical novel based on the letters of Lucie Duff Gordon, who went to Egypt in the 1800s to clear up her tuberculosis. She took along her ladies' maid, Sally, and hired a dragoman, Omar. This book is told from Sally's point of view and is mostly about her personal drama hiding a pregnancy from Lady D and the painful consequences of that decision. There's also some about Egyptian-English politics at the time, and a great deal about daily living and social mores.

Quite interesting, though Sally's...more

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Sep 13, 2011 DenaliViewer-2003 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What to say about this book?
It was fascinating following the trek through Egypt! Each place the characters visited was someplace that I looked up online so I could virtually travel with them through this magical, enchanting land (one of my favorite things to do while reading a book). The descriptions were brief but enticing.
Just as it was fascinating to virtually visit all of the places in Egypt, it was troubling to follow the characters through their roles. The story is based on a Victorian-era...more What to say about this book?
It was fascinating following the trek through Egypt! Each place the characters visited was someplace that I looked up online so I could virtually travel with them through this magical, enchanting land (one of my favorite things to do while reading a book). The descriptions were brief but enticing.
Just as it was fascinating to virtually visit all of the places in Egypt, it was troubling to follow the characters through their roles. The story is based on a Victorian-era woman: Lucie Duff Gordon (a real person) and her personal servant, Sally. The lady must leave the dampness of England for the dry, hot air of Egypt because of her tuberculosis and her maid leaves everything behind to care for her mistress.
Sally is the real protagonist of the story and it is through her eyes that we see the ancient beauty of Egypt, the customs and language of the Muslim Egyptians in the late 1800’s, the perplexing mixture of ready charm and bitter harshness in her mistress, and the joy and torment of true love discovered in a very foreign land.
Sally has refused all advances from men because she holds the duty of her service as a dear object to be carefully protected. A good position in a respected household in Victorian England was not something that you would easily abandon. Her surprise at falling slowly in love with an Egyptian man is presented tenderly and the reader cannot help but hope that life will finally give this lovely girl some of what she has missed. Alas, it is not nearly that easy for her, or for Omar. You see, Omar is already married and, although he is allowed to take a second wife, avoiding scandal is paramount. While he is quite willing to accept Sally’s love and everything it offers, he is not willing to make any sacrifices for her or lose his position with Ms. Duff Gordon!
Witnessing the choices that each must and does make as their story progresses was a moving journey in itself.
The story is based on letters from Ms. Duff Gordon (the Lucie Duff Gordon letters from Egypt were published in book form in 1865). She and her servant spent many years in Egypt and Sally was a loyal and devoted servant, but (apparently), Sally did not deserve any kindness or compassion even though she sacrificed everything to travel with and care for her mistress for many long, difficult years. It was strange that a woman (LDG)--who reportedly was the toast of any party--was incapable of the simplest kindness to Sally when her life encountered the challenge of love in Egypt. What turned LDG into such a shrew?

For more information on the book and a brief commentary from the author, reference this link: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent....(less)

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Sep 07, 2011 Laina Turner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Mistress of Nothing was a very interesting read for a couple reasons. It’s a historical fiction about a woman named Lady Duff Gordons trip to Egypt in the 19th century. The story was told from her maid, Sally’s, point of view. It starts out focused on Lady Gordons poor health due to TB and her need to get away to warmer, dryer climates. Then the twist, to me anyway, was Sally falling in love for the first time in her life with a married Egyptian man, Omar, who is a Muslim. Sally gets pregnan...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I did not realize this was based on a true story until I read the author note at the back of the book. Somehow, that let me give it the extra star. I liked this book very much, but found it nearly unbearably sad in parts. I have recently read several books where the main character is rather slow to understand the world around them and the consequences of their actions. So I was annoyed that was the case again and I held a grudge while reading.

Still, it was compelling--the idea of English woman l...more

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May 10, 2011 Cow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canada

The first half of this book was excellent. It's a historical fictionalization of Lady Duff Gordon's trip to Egypt in the 19th century, told through the eyes of her maid, Sally. And while things are good between them, it's an interesting story of their trip, and a fun bit of sociology of watching what happens to the highly rigid Victorian social roles (both in terms of class and gender) when the participants get away from the society imposing them.

When it goes bad, though, the story too seems to...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, historical, audio-version

Lady Duff Gordon, who has TB, has removed herself from England to the dry deserts of Egypt. Her lady's maid, Sally, attends to her, sacrificing everything to accompany her up the Nile in search of a better climate for Lady Duff Gordon's lungs. They encounter the native Egyptians, learn Arabic, and do away with their constricting English clothes in favor of looser, cooler fabrics. Pullinger attempts to show the blurring of the line between servant and lady, but ultimately tells us it happens. She...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Jill Furedy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read a brief description of this and picked it up to read on a plane trip, not knowing much about it. It's always a pleasant surprise to not just enjoy a book, but also to put it down and think...I'm going to have to find out more about this. I read through the whole thing, totally unfamiliar with the historical background...no clue who Lady Duff Gordon was. I'm definately not a history buff, but once I learned about the premise of the book, I then wondered how much did anyone know about Sally...more

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Feb 23, 2011 harryknuckles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, based on the real-life, Egyptian retreat of Lady Lucie Duff Gordon at the end of her life, when she was suffering from rampant TB.

The central protagonist and narrator of this story, Sally Naldrett, was the loyal and devoted lady's maid to Lady Duff Gordon but little else is known about her.

Lady Duff Gordon and Sally travel down the Nile and set up home in the arid air of the south of Egypt. Despite being good hearted and seemingly liberal (her ladyship treats h...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Denise rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mistress of Nothing tells the story of Sally, Lady Duff Gorgan's nurse and maid. When Lady Duff Gordon becomes ill the two women travel to Egypt in hopes that the dry climate will improve her health. Sally faithfully follows her mistress, spending every waking minute caring for her, utterly devoted and loyal. But Egypt awakens something new in Sally and when the bond between Lady and maid is tested, Lady Duff Gordon proves a formidible and cunning enemy.

The setting and backdrop of the story, a r...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Felice rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Mistress of Nothing takes it's start from real life. Lady Lucie Duff Gordon wrote her famous Letters from Egypt in the 1860's after being forced to go there from her home in England because of consumption. Although Gordon was a famous entertainer and trendsetter in England she was not rich. So when she was forced to leave her family and go away for her health she was only able to bring one maid along with her, Sally Naldrett. Once in Egypt both women go native. They abandon their Victorian e...more

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Nov 27, 2010 Bridget rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-reads

I received an Advance Reader's Edition of this book, and thought it looked like it was worth trying. I'm glad I did, because it was a really good story, and provided an interesting glimpse into life in Egypt in the 1860s.

The story is told from the standpoint of Sally, lady's maid to Lady Duff Gordon, a society woman in London, who is extremely well thought of in social circles there. Lady Gordon suffers from what we know to be tuberculosis, but what is not really understood at the time, and it i...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Marjorie Campbell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Marjorie by: Bestsellers to go - EPL

This is a fabulous book. I read it in one sitting and must say that Pullinger manages to keep you interested in a domestic story of manners for the entire length. It is a very interesting insight into Victorian mores and make me wonder at whether the role between domestic staff and their employers has changed much. The presumptions which dominate the relationship between Lady Duff and her lady's made, Sally, are fascinating. The fact that the mistress treats everyone as if it is a privilege to w...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Julia Reed rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought this to read on vacation, but only got around to reading it now. My verdict: would have been a better book for the beach.

Mistress of Nothing is the story of Sally Naldrett, lady's maid to Lady Duff Gordon, an English intellectual who travels to Egypt seeking a dry climate as cure for her "mysterious ailment" (which is pretty clearly consumption). They are soon joined by Omar Abu Halaweh, who becomes their "dragoman", sort of a valet-of-all-work, not only a native Arabic speaker, but al...more I bought this to read on vacation, but only got around to reading it now. My verdict: would have been a better book for the beach.

Mistress of Nothing is the story of Sally Naldrett, lady's maid to Lady Duff Gordon, an English intellectual who travels to Egypt seeking a dry climate as cure for her "mysterious ailment" (which is pretty clearly consumption). They are soon joined by Omar Abu Halaweh, who becomes their "dragoman", sort of a valet-of-all-work, not only a native Arabic speaker, but also an excellent cook. Lady Duff Gordon quickly "goes native" as they settle into a small village far up the Nile, away from Cairo and Alexandria and all those other not going native English expatriates. Sally is the perfect devoted servant, and has been for years. But as Egypt starts to loosen the bonds between mistress and maid, Sally begins to realize that there might be other ways to find fulfillment. Say, in the arms of a certain handsome dragoman... First comes love, then comes pregnancy, then comes...complete irrational rejection by mistress? Yeah, the last part was confusing to me as well, given the long and close relationship that proceeded it.

This is a pleasant read, a novelization of the lives of two real people (Lady Duff Gordon's published book of letters from Egypt was an important work that revealed the harsh conditions that ordinary Egyptians suffered under Ottoman rule), but there are certain points where it doesn't make sense. Sally's love affair with Omar comes more or less out of nowhere, and Lady Duff Gordon's cruel rejection of Sally, while understable at first (proper lady's maids just don't get pregnant by the local help) seems to drag on to the point where it strains credibility. Why would a very intelligent, educated intellectual, who has already flouted so many of her European conventions during her life in Egypt, suddenly become such a prim Victorian. And not just temporarily, but for the entire rest of the book?

Fortunately, all comes out well in the end. And the sudden plot changes are not SO unforgivable as to make this unreadable, it's just that it's best read when you are in a place, physically or mentally, where you just want a good story and if it strains the bounds of credibility, well, you can go with it. Like the beach. (less)

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Mar 14, 2011 Johanna Zanten rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story went flowing from the start to the end at a kpace that reflects the flow of the River Nile in Egypt, leisurely and warm, enveloping one in the world of the main character, a servant girl to a rich, British upperclass woman with asthma who cannot stay any longer in Britain. She has probably TBC and she eventually dies.
The both of them travel up and down the Nile in the victorian age where servants know their place. However, the rules in this hot and foreign world tend to become less st...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Mrsinserra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

ok so as i read this story i CAN'T BELIEVE how terrible of a person Omar is. It is rare for this to happen with a fictional character- but i hate him. he is almost evil. He knocks up a maid- says he loves her and want's to marry her- he does marry her, but then treats his "wife" as though she is just a prostitute. He just has sex with her- but will not help her financially at all- and forced her to give his family their child. He will not allow her to live with his family, the way a proper wife...more ok so as i read this story i CAN'T BELIEVE how terrible of a person Omar is. It is rare for this to happen with a fictional character- but i hate him. he is almost evil. He knocks up a maid- says he loves her and want's to marry her- he does marry her, but then treats his "wife" as though she is just a prostitute. He just has sex with her- but will not help her financially at all- and forced her to give his family their child. He will not allow her to live with his family, the way a proper wife in Egypt should and does. His first wife tries to help to get Sally to live with them- but Omar threatens her that he will no longer share his bed with her- and will only share his bed with Sally. That stops her from trying to help Omar.

The only reason Sally is in the situation that she is in is because of Omar but he is just a terrible person. There is NOTHING positive i can say about him. Everything Sally's sister tells Omar about his character- that he is disgusting- and had ruined her life and used Sally to move up in position while he pushed her down and made it so that she lost her position and her reputation- it totally true.

There is NOTHING positive i can say about this completely evil wuss of a "man" if you can even call him that. The only manly thing he does is get her pregnant. If i was her i would have married someone else who would take care me- since she really isn't married anyways. She refuses to sleep with him anymore until he allows her to live with his parents and takes care of him like he is supposed to according to Egyptian law. I give her credit- i think i would have kicked him in the nads- he deserves to be made a eunuch- all he is is a male slut who ruined a proper English girls life and then didn't take care of her the way he should have.

For some reason Sally only sorta blames him- she doesn't blame him for her position in life- she blames the "Lady" she worked for and her Aunt who originally sold her and her sister to another family to work after their parents died.

This book also has no real ending- Omar never redeems himself and you never find out is she ever gets to live with her son again. But at least her son knows her and loves her because she came to visit him everyday. The story just ends with the death of her "Lady" but not anything after that.

It was a good book, though it made me very angry for Sally and made me hate Omar.(less)

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Apr 24, 2011 Fluffychick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2011, egypt, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This tells the story of Sally Naldrett, lady's maid to Lady Lucie Duff Gordon in the late nineteenth century. As a last resort to cure her mistress's consumption it is decided that Sally and Lady Duff Gordon will go to Egypt. Due to lack of money, the two women go alone. Egypt is a revelation to them both and although the move is initially shocking, the introduction of dragoman Omar allows them to settle and they "go native". They are less impressed with the ancient sites but enthusiastically em...more This tells the story of Sally Naldrett, lady's maid to Lady Lucie Duff Gordon in the late nineteenth century. As a last resort to cure her mistress's consumption it is decided that Sally and Lady Duff Gordon will go to Egypt. Due to lack of money, the two women go alone. Egypt is a revelation to them both and although the move is initially shocking, the introduction of dragoman Omar allows them to settle and they "go native". They are less impressed with the ancient sites but enthusiastically embrace the Egyptian culture, its language and people; they encapsulate the move away from the restrictive expectations of the Frangi society but adopting traditional Egyptian dress.
Sally is loyal and proud to serve her mistress, but as time goes on and they settle in Luxor, they become further removed from their previous lives and the relationship changes. The household becomes more relaxed, Lady Duff Gordon becomes involves with local dignitaries and writes home about the unfair plight of the fellahin. Omar proves to be chameleon-like, with his quick ability to take on new roles within the household, including becoming Sally's first lover. On discovering their relationship, Lady Duff Gordon's retribution is terrible for Sally and made more painful by the continued support and affection she shows towards Omar. Sally struggles to cope with her rejection and seeks a new life whilst staying in her new adoptive land.

Pullinger does a beautiful job of evoking Egypt in the 1860s and I really wanted to love the book, however, I felt a bit let down by it, mainly because I didn't really get deep enough into the characters to understand their motives.

The first section was probably the most enjoyable. Sally is full of enthusiasm and loyalty; the novelty of a new start in Egypt is engaging and the descriptions interesting. However, Sally isn't a strong personality and her passivity means that she is always on the sidelines, and in the second half of the book, many events are described to her by other minor characters. Once she starts her affair with Omar, my interest drifted off...mainly as I couldn't understand why he behaved the way he did...was it love? Manipulation? He was so thinly drawn it was difficult to see what he wanted to achieve. Why was he so obsessed with maintaining his position with Lady Duff Gordon at the expense of his own family and Sally? Was he simply weak and overawed by his mistress or was there a master plan?

I also couldn't reconcile Lady Duff Gordon's treatment of Sally when she was her only link to her family in England and showed such empathy in other situations. It didn't gel and there was insufficient detail to make it work.
So, overall, it had interesting points and I loved sections of it, but fell a bit flat for me.
(less)

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Feb 09, 2011 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a work of fiction based on the real lives of Lady Duff Gordon and her maid. When I first saw the title for this book I thought "how sad" but the premise for the book sounded interesting and included the word "romance" which always gets my attention. Unfortunately, I didn't find the book all that entertaining. Although the book described in colorful detail Victorian Egypt, there was too much narrative, very little dialogue and virtually no drama. The "romance", which I think of as a...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 22, 2011 Dot rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was uncertain about reading this book having read some uncomplimentary reviews but, seeing it on the library shelf in CD format, I decided to give it a go. On the whole I enjoyed the book which tells the story of Lady Lucy Duff Gordon's lady's maid, Sally. The basic facts of the tale are true. Lady Gordon takes her exemplary maid with her when she goes to live in Egypt where it is hoped the dry climate will help her cope with her lung disease. There the maid falls in love with the dragoman tha...more

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About Kate Pullinger

Kate Pullinger's books include the novels The Last Time I Saw Jane, Where Does Kissing End?, and Weird Sister, as well as the short story collections, My Life as a Girl in a Men's Prison and Tiny Lies. She co-wrote the novel of the film The Piano with director Jane Campion. Her new novel, A Little Stranger, was published in Canada in October 2004 and in the UK in January, 2006, by Serpent's Tail.

K...more Kate Pullinger's books include the novels The Last Time I Saw Jane, Where Does Kissing End?, and Weird Sister, as well as the short story collections, My Life as a Girl in a Men's Prison and Tiny Lies. She co-wrote the novel of the film The Piano with director Jane Campion. Her new novel, A Little Stranger, was published in Canada in October 2004 and in the UK in January, 2006, by Serpent's Tail.

Kate Pullinger also writes for film and for the digital media. Her most recent digital work is www.inanimatealice.com, a multimedia graphic novel in episodes. She is also currently involved in a new project Flight Paths - a project aimed at creating a networked novel, on and through the Internet.

The Breathing Wall is an experimental fiction made with collaborators Stefan Schemat and babel in 2004.

Kate Pullinger is Reader in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University, Leicester, where she teaches on the online MA in Creative Writing and New Media that she helped set up.

Kate Pullinger was born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, and went to high school on Vancouver Island. She dropped out of McGill University, Montreal, after a year and a half of not studying philosophy and literature, then spent a year working in a copper mine in the Yukon, northern Canada, where she crushed rocks and saved money. She spent that money traveling and ended up in London, England, where she has been ever since.

Kate Pullinger has lectured and taught widely. She has been writer-in-residence in many places, including Battersea Arts Centre, The University of Reading, the prisons HMP Gartree and HMP Maidstone, and in Maidstone itself. She was Judith E Wilson Visiting Writing Fellow at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, 1995/96 and the Visiting Writing Fellow at The Women's Library, London Metropolitan University, 2001/03. She was Research Fellow for The trAce Online Writing Centre Arts and Humanities Research Board project, Mapping the Transition from Page to Screen, where she looked at new forms of electronic narrative, 2002/03. From 2001-2007 she was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow.She currently teaches on the MA in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University, Leicester, where she is Reader in Creative Writing and New Media; this degree began with its first intake of students in the autumn of 2006 - Online MA in Creative Writing & New Media.

Kate Pullinger is represented in the UK by Rachel Calder at The Sayle Literary Agencyand in Canada and the US by Anne McDermid of Anne McDermid and Associates.(less)

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Something Was There . . .: Asham Award-winning Ghost Stories

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