Two women share this book; the upper class Lady Duff Gordon, writer, traveller and intellectual, whose celebrated salons were attended by Tennyson, Thackeray and George Meredith. In 1862, at the age of 40, tuberculosis would force her to travel to Egypt, where it was hoped the hot, dry climate would speed her recovery. It is however her maid Sally Naldrett who is the central character, taking advantage of the freedom Egypt provides to make decisions which could never have been considered in the oppressive confines of Victorian England.

I had looked forward to reading The Mistress of Nothing; it takes place in a time period I enjoy and the setting of Egypt in 1862 would I hope be a change of pace, yet I finished the book somewhat disappointed. Author Kate Pullinger had obviously done her research and what she wrote was well described and interesting, however I got the feeling historical fiction was not to her taste therefore she was overly constrained in her writing; not wanting to be mistaken for the worse of this genre.

Her characters suffered from the same reserved writing style. I never felt any connection with Sally instead was frustrated by her constant gullibility. When you are a woman in 1800’s and especially if your life is that of Lady’s maid you know the rules. From her uncharacteristically uninhibited sexual acceptance of Omar to her continual shock by her mistress's reaction to the subsequent events the storyline didn’t read as plausible. How could she not realize that the carefree and rule free Egyptian household Lucie Duff Gordon allowed was of course hers to control. It could all end with a few well-chosen words putting everyone back into the roles they were hired to serve in.

The lifestyle and historical references were fascinating; there is just not enough for one to become completely immersed. Even though it is not her story a more well-defined sense of who Duff Gordon was would have subsequently given more meaning to Sally’s actions.

Pullinger brings Sally’s story to an uneven finish with a few shoddily written sentences which does speak more to the endings of lower grade historical novels. Lucie Duff Gordon’s death reveals she was also the mistress of nothing as she is buried in Cairo surrounded by only a few servants and villagers.