The Lost Apothecary
By Sarah Penner
Genre: Historical Fiction
Recommended For: Ages 18+, history buffs, people who find natural remedies and potions interesting, wanna be apothecaries
A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course. Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman. Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.
One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose—selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.
In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.
Luna’s Top Points:
- Atmospheric and realistic world building
- I could feel the character’s curiosity and intrigue
- Fascinating information and history about poisons
- Three top notch female characters
- Excellent execution of two different timelines and multiple POV characters
The Review:
I love books about potions, herbal remedies, poisons and apothecaries. So obviously this story have a head start. But even besides that, I was thoroughly impressed by debut author, Sarah Penner, and her novel The Lost Apothecary. This book fed two things I love: apothecaries and history. Split between two timelines and three perspectives, we get the atmospheric world of a 1790s London apothecary specializing in poisons, and the exhilaration of researching the past from present day and uncovering long-forgotten mysteries.
There were lots of standout elements of this book for me. One was the characters. There are three POV characters, Nella, Eliza and Caroline. Caroline is the only one of the three in present time. Each woman had a fleshed out personality, and throughout the story, Penner gave us a strong sense of who each character was and what they felt. I also found that I liked each woman equally. Usually I like one or two more than the others, but I thought each POV character had charming and intriguing qualities. My one itsy bitsy critique of character is that Eliza, a supposedly 12-year old girl, did not act or talk like a 12-year old girl at all. Now, this could just be my opinion because I don’t know how young girls acted in the 1790s. Maybe they were much more mature for their age back then.
Something I adored about this book was the fascinating information the reader learns about historical poisons and remedies. These kind of historical concoctions are so intriguing to me and I loved that Penner didn’t just gloss over them. She explained what was in the different tinctures and why she used each ingredient.
Running two different timelines through three POV characters can be a tough nut to crack. But Penner handled it flawlessly. Her expert execution resulted in perfectly timed suspense throughout because of where she’d end chapters and move on to a different time period or POV. So often I’d finish a chapter and have to keep reading despite the late hour because I had to know what happened next. It also astounded me how well the differently storylines weaved together and how the actions of an infamous poison-maker could propel the actions of a woman over two hundred years later. It helped create an assurance in me that everything in this book had a purpose.
I love a good feminist book. A story the shows the capabilities of woman and emphasizes that we are equally as important and worthy as men. However, I am always disappointed when novels with a strong feminist theme go too far and have the women do outrageous, out of character things for small reasons. This was not the case for The Lost Apothecary. The book centers on one woman helping other women protect themselves against men by making poisons. Penner took special care to lay the groundwork of justification for each woman’s actions. While I personally would not have reacted the way they did, I could understand what led them to seek out a poison maker.
I thought the ending was spectacular. A couple surprises I didn’t see coming and very satisfying conclusion. Well-paced throughout with an excellent resolution. I am not giving it 5 stars because of some character issues with Eliza and a few times the conclusions Caroline reached were rushed and unbelievable, but overall, this was a wonderful book I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s one I’m happy to recommend.
Luna’s Lucky Rating: 4/5 Lunas
