Ratings243
Average rating3.4
I've had this book on my shelf for a while. I've read mixed reviews about it. But I'm very happy I finally read it. I enjoyed the writing. I enjoyed the dual timelines and how they intertwined. It was also a quick easy read. The only thing I didn't like was the last chapter and how it actually ended. But overall I thought it was a good read
The Lost Apothecary is a tale told to readers through the perspectives of different women. Apothecary Nella from 1791 and historian Caroline in the present day are the main characters. Both women have dealt with infidelity in their relationships, and separate losses over children. While their tales are not one for one the same, the heartbreak they endure is a common thread throughout their narratives.
This novel relies heavily on the literature side of writing, giving readers a surface level understanding of the two women’s situations. The reader is told through first-person what they are experiencing, but the emotional side is left up to the reader's imagination. The audiobook narrator added emotion to the women’s stories, but the reader is still told more than shown what they are going through.
As Nella reveals the truth behind her choice to make poisons, Caroline begins to discover the truths about her marriage. Both women deal with deceitful men, and in their way take a stand against them. There is a shared grief between the two women and this common theme is carried within the tale. While Nella tells the reader about the man who influenced her life, readers will see firsthand the gaslighting and deception Caroline must face.
The Lost Apothecary is a fictional novel for those who want to read about finding oneself after infidelity and the desire to have a family. Sarah Penner also makes sure to include the themes of womanhood and remaining true to yourself instead of what others want you to become.
Originally posted at www.behindthepages.org.
Eh. Love the cover, was excited to read some historical-pharmacist-murder mystery but it was none of those, basically.
In present-day London, Caroline Parcewell is taking a solo trip to London to recover from the shock of finding out about her husband's infidelity. While mudlarking on the River Thames, she finds a mysterious engraved vial that leads her on an investigative journey to find out the truth behind an “apothecary serial killer” from the 1790s.
While I never felt that the central mystery was boring per se, and I never felt like the book dragged, at the same time I also had no burning desire to find out anything about the characters, their relationship, or the answers to anything happening at all. The dual timelines happening here felt a little unnecessary, and I kind of wished that we had simply one linear timeline with more horizontal development for the characters and issues there.
I went into this a little worried that this was going to turn into a blanket “all men are trash” hate-fest. I'm all for female empowerment and exploring issues revolving around women, but I don't feel that this has to be achieved at the price of falling back on just another form of sexism. The book skirts around that, but luckily doesn't quite toe the line there, IMO. The narrative just shies away from going all out on the misandry, although there was certainly a lot more of that in the historical timeline (although understandably so given the gender inequalities of that time period).
What the book perhaps lacked doing was having actually more redeeming male characters. There were only two prominent male characters here (Mr Amwell and James) and I thoroughly hated both of them. The one and only redeeming male character, Tom Pepper, was barely around for 5 pages. I was also largely indifferent to the main female characters, Eliza, Nella, and Caroline. While both their timelines took turns being the more interesting one, I never really felt attached to any of them. The writing for Nella's perspective felt a little too involved, over-serious, and overwrought in a way, that I was either annoyed, or couldn't take it seriously. Eliza was slightly better, but nothing much happens with her or to her (aside from that horrifying incident with Mr Amwell which was thankfully averted - I really would not have wanted to read about that). Caroline and her marriage was just a constant source of frustration and annoyance to me throughout the book, although she got more tolerable as a character as the book wore on and as she drew further apart from James.
I just didn't understand what was the whole point of the adventures, both in 1790s and in the present-day, and why they were supposed to relate to each other? I get that Caroline had some character development in the sense that she went from gaslighting herself about how she felt about James, to properly realising that she needed to pursue her own dreams and get away from him - that's fine, but i don't feel like it was clear how that related to her whole adventure with the apothecary's bottle. I'm even more unclear about what Eliza's role was, aside from her last sacrificial act and magic trick of turning up alive again. Also, how did she make such a strong, amazing, and effective tincture to protect her from drowning and frigid waters on her first try?! She barely got any tutelage from Nella before this! I just felt like the connection between the storylines in the 1790s and present-day wasn't very strong.
The central mystery with Lady Clarence just really fell flat for me. When I checked my progress and saw it at about 75% through, I was like, “Wait, you mean this is the main mystery of the book?!” It all felt like a side story leading up to something bigger because the stakes never felt high to me. The overall ending was okay - I didn't even expect it to be super mind-blowing but it still fell a little flat for me. The twist about Eliza surviving her fall just felt a bit... eh whatever. And we never even really found out what happened to Nella after she reunited with Eliza at the end.
I was also super confused about this whole big deal they made out of this “apothecary serial killer” in both the blurb for the book as well as in the story itself. There wasn't a lot of focus on the whole apothecary aspect aside from those two poisons that Nella made. There wasn't a ton of serial-killing-ness as I was led to believe either since only two men died in the whole course of the book, really. In terms of the narrative, how on earth did she become associated as a serial killer or having it termed as "murders" when the police really only knew about her involvement with Lord Clarence's death?. The book felt mainly focused on these 3 women struggling with individual issues around their relationship with men, which is fine but definitely wasn't what I expected going in and didn't come through in the blurb of the book. Even then, I also felt like that wasn't properly explored because all those gimmicks around it regarding the dual timelines, the apothecary murders, etc. really distracted the narrative from that, so everything felt really disjointed and “what's the point of this?” in the end.
All in all, I'm hovering between 2 and 3 for this one. In the first 2 chapters, i was already feeling a 3/5 but hoped it would prove me wrong. Oh well.
So, I have attempted to read this twice.
The first time I started to read this I did DNF it. I got to 20%-25% before I DNF'd. The reason why is because I was not sure if I was bored, stressed out due to school, or just too overwhelmed with life. So, I put the book down and left it alone.
This time in 2022, I wanted to try to read this again because life has calmed down. I managed to make it to 45%-50% of the book before I DNF'd it once again. The characters did not leave an impression on me. As soon as I ended my 30 minutes a day reading time I would forget them. I was tired of the repetition. And, some other factors within this book.
I think 2 stars is appropriate, I might recommend this book to someone that has not read in a long time, or I would not recommend this at all.
This book was frustrating.
There were parts, whole sections even, that I liked. And then it'd come back to Caroline's perspective, and I'd have to restrain myself from yelling at her.
Caroline drove me up the wall. She's in London by herself on what's supposed to be her tenth anniversary trip with her husband. Caroline just discovered he's been having an affair. Still, she decided to make the trip anyway to have space to sort through her feelings. Caroline comes across an old vial while on a mudlarking tour of the Thames. She dives into researching its history, partly as a way to avoid her problems at home. What follows is a former history student breaking into a historic site, disturbing it, hiding it from people with actual knowledge of the period and how to process sites (not to mention her new friend that works for the British Museum) and manages to be suspected of murder because she's so protective of this site she won't explain why she was researching poisons. Or hey, maybe showing the cops THE PICTURES ON YOUR PHONE OF THE REGISTER WITH THE SUSPICIOUS INGREDIENTS YOU WERE GOOGLING (Oh, sorry, not googling. Or searching. Navigating to the phone's web browser).
My issues with the story that aren't based on my dislike of Caroline:
• There were attempts to create suspense and mystery when it wasn't there and just made the story lag. Honestly, if I had been reading the book instead of listening, I would have skimmed large chunks of the text because it just wasn't necessary.
• The descriptions around any use of technology were weird and just too descriptive. For example, Caroline would navigate to her camera app. I'm not planning on visiting the British Library and replicating her archival searches, so I didn't need a step-by-step guide on using the filters.
I did not like the ending whatsoever, but perhaps my biggest problem with it is that Caroline throws the vial back in the river. The vial that led Caroline to this whole journey of uncovering the apothecary, which she'll be writing her dissertation on at Cambridge. And she threw it away because she was keeping Eliza's story to herself? Was this a purposeful juxtaposition to Nella keeping a register of customers so history wouldn't forget those women? At the same time, Caroline quite literally throws a record away? Either way, it was a stupid and unnecessary ‘symbolic moment.'
Audiobook Review: All of the narrators did a good job, but I'd sometimes up the speed during Caroline's sections to get through them faster. Perhaps that's because I'm from the US, and the accent sounded bland and neutral compared to Nella and Eliza's sections. Perhaps it's because the character was annoying. Who knows. I especially loved the performance for Nella's sections – the raspiness and the slowness just felt perfect for the character.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Contains spoilers
Ok, I want to go to London right now. This was such a fun story to listen to. I love dual timelines, and this novel definitely did not disappoint. The narrators were spot on.
I definitely found Nella and Eliza's story more enjoyable than Caroline's. Caroline's seemed too easy and convenient. Putting aside all deep thought and reading into things, this book was flawless. There were a few things that weren't 100% believable, but that's the best part of fiction. I'll definitely be reading this book again.
I was a little disappointed that Caroline put her own dream on hold so her husband could follow his. I was glad that she finally got her act together at the end and put in her application to Cambridge, but it seemed a little rushed. I would think that she'd want to finalize her divorce before moving halfway across the world, but maybe she felt that 10 years was long enough to wait.
Also, I was worried for a while that Nella was going to push Eliza over the bridge railing. I don't really understand how she survived the jump, but maybe the elixir she drank really was supernatural and saved her life.
This book suffers from Julie & Julia Syndrome--Nella and Eliza's stories in the past are infinitely more fascinating and have higher stakes than Caroline's story in the present. Every time I had to go back to the present, I couldn't wait to get back to the past.
I couldn't have cared less for Caroline's stunted Eat Pray Love odyssey across London, except when she went urban exploring and had that contrived misunderstanding toward the end. Gaynor was a more interesting character in the present than Caroline by a mile, and I would've loved to follow her in her daily research and discoveries instead.
The book was well-written, but I can't give it more than three stars due to the disappointing Caroline storyline.
disappointing read after a strong start :(
i wasn't interested in the present day story at all, ok maybe for the tiny hopes of a sapphic romance (I'm seeing a pattern here with all of my reads) which never fruited. present day mc made sooo many silly decisions and i just didn't like her character and couldn't stand by any of the weird choices she made, her internal thoughts were quite frustrating. and oddly, the narrator had an English accent for this American character during all thoughts and first person description. but whenever she spoke aloud she put on an American accent. why not just have an American accent for the entire present part? they also had an Extremely English man say sneakers aloud. #petpeeve
i was enjoying the historical parts, nella and eliza were great characters but the whole thing was a little slow. and far far far too many women spoke about the longings of their wombs. maybe the author is going through something wrt to that but it felt unesessary.
i think this shows promise and i look forward to see what the author will write next. the premise was so intriguing, just a shame about the execution.
CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Writing: 10
Plot: 10
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 8
Enjoyment: 10
I loved this book. It was so well written and I loved seeing how the women's stories intertwined. It was also fascinating to see how the past affected the future. I normally am not a fan of dual timeline books but I thought this one was so well done and added so much to the story.
Most all readers I know are reading this, and let's be real - it's that darned beautiful cover. The story is great too, which is the cherry on top of a female-centric, empowering, and magical cake that I devoured! This book truly fulfilled all my female empowering/inspiring magical needs, complete with potions, magic, and amazing characters.
Overall, this book was just okay. I was interested in Eliza and Nella's chapters set in the past rather than Caroline's set in the present day. Caroline, at times, felt poorly written just to create the needed drama to advance the plot forward. Certain things just happen to fall in place just so Caroline can have a confrontation with the police at one point. I really disliked the convenience of it all. The ending was pretty well written, however, for Nella and Eliza. For Caroline, though, it was just another set of confusing decisions.
The premise sounded strong and promising, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed at how things played out. It wasn't thrilling enough to be a thriller or mysterious enough to be a mystery, and while I really enjoyed the historical setting, it just wasn't enough for me to rate the book much higher.
This book covers two different points in time: Caroline in present-day London who is trying to make the best of an anniversary trip despite her marriage being on the rocks, and the dual viewpoints of Nella the apothecary and her brief young assistant Eliza in the 1790s. Nella has been a secret dispenser of poisons, with a very strict set of rules about who they can be used on. This personal code is called into question with one very particular client, and the book largely centers around the buildup and resolution of this one particular case. Caroline, in present-day London, stumbles on the mystery of these two individuals through finding a relic from Nella's shop while out on a spur of the moment mudlarking trip, and spends the rest of her trip unravelling the details while also trying to figure out how to move forward with her personal life.
I have to admit that I was not interested or invested in Caroline's viewpoint at all. She felt a bit bland, and her personal struggles with her marriage and life choices felt tired and not all that compelling. I feel like she existed solely to tell the reader the story of Nella and Eliza, and her personal struggles only existing so the reader can draw obvious parallels between the two points in time.
I also was disappointed at how Nella and Eliza's story played out. I was expecting something a bit darker and mysterious given the premise of a female apothecary who poisons men, but very little of the business of being an apothecary was shown. This just didn't quite scratch the I-want-to-read-about-poisonings-please itch I was expecting it to.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Many thanks to Park Row for the opportunity to read this advance copy in return for an honest review!
A woman on a London vacation at an inflection point in her life happens upon an antique bottle with a bear inscribed on it. Her love of research and historical connections leads her to not only solve a mystery that no one was aware of, but also gain clarity about her own desires for the future. A dual time line is set in 1791 London and features a woman apothecary who not only dispenses healing herbs and medicines for other women, but also helps them deal with men in their lives who have done them wrong.
The story grabbed my attention at once, and the dual time line was very well done, without giving the reader whiplash about which time period you were reading about. The idea of women supporting and taking care of other women is brought up over and over again in the novel, with the acknowledgement that many women have little about their lives that leave a mark on the world that they can claim, particularly in the 1791 story. The reader comes to love these characters, in particular the apothecary and the present day woman. There are some twists and turns in the story that I didn't see coming, along with some outcomes that were easy to spot ahead of time. Overall this is a well-written, enjoyable read that was just right for my reading life right now.
https://dev.edelweiss.plus/?sku=0778311015&g=4400
I felt like the historical aspect could have made for a great book on its own, but the modern day stuff was a bit too much of a mess.
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.
This is not everyone's cup of tea, but to those that look for a historical book, with a bit of sorrow and reality, this is up you alley (or Back Alley
The premise has so much promise. And while I enjoyed the book, it is not one that I will go back to read.
There are 3.5 main characters:
Caroline: the typical “I was perfectly perfect and happy until I wasn't” mid 30s woman
James: (the .5) the shitty husband of Caroline
Nella: the apothecary turned poisoner which SOUNDS like a complex plot but it isn't
Eliza: the 12 year old girl who probably ended up with a ton of trauma from all of this but seems to have turned out perfect.
The plot had interesting moments - mostly with Nella and Eliza. I could have done without the Caroline/James story arc (or lack thereof). There was zero growth or interest there for me.
This ended up being a quick read, predictable, unrelatable and unremarkable.
Nella is an apothecary living in the 1790s in London, secretly providing poisons for women who have problematic men in their lives after being cruelly treated herself. She has sworn to never harm another woman, only men. Eliza is a 12 year old girl in the same time who has just begun getting unwelcome attention from her mistress???s husband. And Caroline is an American vacationing in London in present day, having just caught her husband cheating on her. She is taking time and space to herself to reevaluate her life and relationship.
While in London, Caroline finds an old glass vial with a bear etched on it and decides to research its story and history. Her story of discovery, of both the bottle and herself, is interwoven with the tale of Nella and Eliza as they meet and form an odd friendship amidst Nella???s dangerous and forbidden occupation.
First of all: Most. Beautiful. Cover. Ever.
Some of the plot devices stretched credulity, such as how easy it ended up being for Caroline to discover the true story of this lost apothecary from one single, unlabeled glass vial. And Caroline???s attitude about some things was annoying. (She had dreams of going to college, but when she got married James didn???t want her going to Cambridge so??? she just didn???t go to college. Are there no colleges in America?) The characters??? development was enough to keep me interested though, and the plot fast paced enough that I was willing to suspend my criticisms to see what happened next. I wouldn???t necessarily categorize this book as either character or plot driven; it does a decent job of striking a balance between the two.
I deeply enjoy books that jump back and forth between past and present like this. It reminds me of the way Susanna Kearsley weaves different timelines into a narrative. And seeing the similarities and contrasts in women???s lives in the two periods was really enjoyable. All three women are in situations or lives where they have little to no power, and the story is about them finding ways to exert it or take it back.
The ending was??? well. It did feel maybe a little too convenient.
Is the lost apothecary a serial killer? Well, yes. Are we still rooting for her? Also, yes. Overall I enjoyed this book and I think it was a really solid debut novel.
Honestly, because it sucked. First, I'd like to say that I love the idea of this book. Women going to a secret apothecary in the 1700's to kill their abusers, love it. I also loved the character Nella, the woman who ran the apothecary. Beyond that, not much was good. All of the problems were caused by miscommunication. Eliza using the labeled bottle... smh. There was so much set up of her being a clever young girl and this mistake felt like her going out of her way to create issues. And I was frustrated beyond belief that no one would simply state that what she was experiencing was the menstrual cycle. I get that it was the 1700's and people didn't talk about these things, but still. And almost every single character was OBSESSED with the idea of being a mother. It was their main personality trait. Lastly, Caroline's abysmal technology use. “I opened my Internet app”... no. Also her flashlight died WAY TOO FAST. I'd guess she was in that room for no more than 15 min by how upset she was at the speed her phone died. If having your flashlight on for 15 min drains your battery from 100 to 0, you either have an IPhone3 or the worst up to date modern smart phone I've ever heard of.
I obviously do not know if things get better in the last 100 pages, and if they do I'm sorry, book, for being rude.
It's a really exciting concept, but nothing substantial has happened in the first 200 pages of the book. DNF. This was my first BOTM purchase.
Gelezen als audioboek
Dit sloeg gewoon nergens op.
Ik had hoge verwachtingen, wat met die synopsis en schitterende cover, en het begon ook veelbelovend, maar het ging al snel bergafwaarts. Alles, van plot tot personages, bleef gewoon aan de oppervlakte, niets werd grondig onderzocht, te veel leunde op toeval en alles ging belachelijk gemakkelijk. Mijn vermogen om mijn ongeloof te negeren, werd grondig getest en uiteindelijk gebroken.
Het concept was er, maar de uitvoering sloeg gewoon nergens op. En dat einde, jezus mina, waarom? Zucht.
It normally annoys me when books go back and forward in time - but it does make sense and work in this book.