The Lost Apothecary - Sarah Penner // Book Review

  

The Lost Apothecary
Sarah Penner || Publication Date - 20.01.2022

When women don't have a voice or power, there is one place in service just for them. Any ailment they have, can be taken care of.

Historical | Fiction | Mystery

Taking place simultaneously in 18th century and modern day London, this story follows a brief snapshot into the lives of Caroline, Nella and Eliza.

Aspiring historian Caroline is breaking away from her Husband who has been unfaithful to her. The revelation happened just before the couple were planning to spend their anniversary in London. She decided, despite the situation, to continue her plans and get on the plane without him and enjoy some time to herself as far away from him as possible.

While in London, she meets a group of people who are passing the afternoon away digging in the mud around the river Thames, looking for treasures or historical items. Caroline stumbles on a vial which doesn't look like much, however, when she takes this to a Librarian a local buried mystery surfaces.

Now we introduce Nella, an 18th century apothecary who has her shop hidden away behind a fake wall in the small streets of London. Her mother, the previous owner of this shop, is known in the female community for being able to heal and relieve any ailment. Nella has inherited all her mothers knowledge and burdens as she continues to work for the women of London.

When Eliza shows up at her shop requesting assistance with the removal of her mistresses burden, the man of the house, Nella provides her a poison. However, despite Nella having done this a multitude of times, this time is different and the safe stowaway shop is now in jeopardy from being discovered, from the 18th century police and present day Caroline.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

As much as I'm not fond of books which switch perspectives a lot for every chapter as this one does, the way this book had been set out made it easy to follow. I personally find it challenging to keep track of multiple storylines happening at the same time.

Each of the 3 characters who are focused on in this book did act as if they were their own person. I enjoyed each of them individually, however, sometimes it felt hard to connect with the adult characters due to their pursuit of motherhood, a sentiment I do not share. This sole similarity was much of the character's motives when it came to their decisions and I personally believe is the catalyst for this story even existing.

The premise of the book was very promising, however, the ending does feel quite lacklustre. There was also not a lot of depth when it came to the plot. It was very surface level, and I feel that the characters quite honestly deserved more, especially when it came to Nella and Eliza. The last few chapters seemed a bit of a rush to close the book. The ending events described by Caroline, which she read in through a newspaper article, I wish were told through Eliza and Nella's perspectives as additional chapters.

Overall Thoughts

I thought this book was interesting and honestly a decent read. As I had previously mentioned, I do wish that it had a few more extra chapters to really give Nella and Eliza a nice closing to their stories. Having their final events told through Caroline in present day just didn't do them justice in my opinion.

If you want a historical fiction which underlines and gives voices and power to women in the 18th century then this would be right up your alley. It was a lovely sentiment despite murder being involved and was an interesting take on women supporting other women in their own specialised ways.