THE MISTRESS OF NOTHING
Kate Pullinger
Serpent’s Tail (Hachette)-$32.99

Actually I wouldn’t have chosen this myself as a book to read but in fact I initially became fascinated by the history of the writing of the book and then as I got further into it I was quite swept along by the story.

The author, a Canadian born British writer, has taken the lives of actual people and their lives in 1863-65. Apart from the first 18 or so pages the story is set entirely in Egypt during these three years and tells the story of Lucie, Lady Duff Gordon, her maid Sally Naldrett, and her Egyptian dragoman Omar Abu Halaweh.
Lucie, Lady Duff Gordon, was a Victorian writer, traveller and fairly unconventional intellectual, who held salons in London attended by such celebrities Tennyson, Thackeray and George Meredith. But in 1862, at the age of 40, crippling tuberculosis forced her to leave her husband and family in England and travel to Egypt, where medical advice suggested the hot, dry climate would lead to her recovery.
The well-connected Duff Gordons, were not wealthy, basically they were upper middle class I guess and broke, and so Lucie could only take one servant with her, her maid Sally Naldrett. They settled in Luxor, where Lucie cut her hair, exchanged her corsets for Egyptian dress, acquired an Egyptian servant and became reasonably fluent in Arabic.
She allowed her servants, Sally and Omar unusual levels of freedom and all was well until the unmarried Sally broke one of the Victorian age’s strictest taboos. When this happened Lucie’s liberal and broadminded attitude went by the board. Filled with anger, she fired Sally and commanded her to leave the household and return, penniless and without references, to England.
The history of the writing of the book is especially interesting. First off the Author’s Foundation gave the author a research grant in 1998 to travel to Egypt. Then from 2001 to 2007, the Royal Literary Fund awarded her a series of Fellowships, providing financial support. So the book has been a decade in the making.
Lucie Duff Gordon, in both the book and in real life, wrote frequently to her family and friends which ultimmately resulted in a book, LETTERS FROM EGYPT, being published in 1865, and interestingly it has been almost continuously in print ever since.
In addition in 1995 a biography by Katherine Franks was published, LUCIE DUFF GORDON; A PASSAGE TO EGYPT. It was from these two books that the author learned of the Lucie Duff Gordon story although next to nothing is known or revealed of Sally Scandrett or Omar Abu Halaweh, their stories are almost entirely from the imagination of the author.
Pullinger quotes from Duff Gordon’s letters on several occasions in her novel.

It is a good read, and although I tend to avoid gender divisions when it comes to categorising fiction I think this one has to be described as a woman’s book because it is largely about the relationship between Lucie and her servant Sally, and then later after Sally has left the service of Lady Duff Gordon about the relationship between Sally and an Egyptian woman named Mabrouka. I should add the whole story is told through the eyes of Sally, she is the narrator.
About the author.
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 and Weird Sister. She collaborated with Jane Campion on the novel of the film The Piano, and has written for film, television and radio. She is currently lecturer in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University.

Footnote:

The Bookman reviewed this title on Radio NZ National yesterday morning, 30 September.