The Mistress of Nothing: A Novel

The American debut of an award-winning novel about a lady€s maid€s awakening as she journeys from the confines of Victorian England to the uncharted far reaches of Egypt€s Nile Valley

When Lady Duff Gordon, paragon of London society, departs for the hot, dry climate of Egypt to seek relief from her debilitating tuberculosis, her lady€s maid, Sally, doesn€t hesitate to leave the only world she has known in order to remain at her mistress€s side. As Sally gets farther and farther from home, she experiences freedoms she has never known€"forgoing corsets and wearing native dress, learning Arabic, and having her first taste of romance.

But freedom is a luxury that a lady€s maid can ill afford, and when Sally€s newfound passion for life causes her to forget what she is entitled to, she is brutally reminded she is mistress of nothing. Ultimately she must choose her master and a way back home€"or a way to an unknown future.

Based on the real lives of Lady Duff Gordon and her maid, The Mistress of Nothing is a lush, erotic, and compelling story about the power of race, class, and love