The Lost Apothecary

I do love a good dual-timeline story! And The Lost Apothecary is quite good. It's told from the point of view of three main characters: Nella, the titular apothecary, dispensing medicines to heal or to kill; Eliza, who comes to Nella for a permanent remedy to a problem and becomes her assistant, of a sort; and Caroline, a modern-day woman who finds her marriage on shaky ground and who is struggling to find herself.

I really enjoyed this book! The premise drew me in, and the marvelous storytelling kept me hooked. The story isn't about women getting back at men, so much, although I can see where someone might think that. It's more about the choices women make and the consequences of those choices, and women finding their path even within the societal expectations of their time.

In Nella's timeline, 1791, women had very few rights. They couldn't divorce their husbands for abuse or unfaithfulness. Nella was trying to help women the only way she knew how. When she broke her own rule, that her poisons must never be used against women, that set into motion a devastating chain of events. Eliza wanted to help Nella. In trying to help, she made a choice that brought undesirable attention to Nella's secret shop.

Claire made the choice, when she got married, to give up on her dreams. She didn't enroll at Cambridge like she wanted to. Instead, she took the job that provided steady income and supported her husband's goals. She lost sight of her hopes and dreams in the process. When she found the small vial half-buried in mud, she made a choice to see what she could find out about it. That choice changed the course of her life.

This is a story well told. The ending left me with a little bit of a sense of mystery. What was of this world and what might not be? Not a cliffhanger, just enough of a question to let the reader envision what the future might be like. Delightfully gothic, mysterious, and with characters you will embrace, The Lost Apothecary gets five stars from me. I loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Park Row Books for an advance copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't like.