Living in 18th century London Nella, like her mother before her, runs an apothecary shop exclusively for women. Like her mother before her, she helps them with women’s ailments and offers a safe space for women from all walks of life. Unlike her mother, Nella also sells poisons. Having been betrayed herself, Nella is the perfect sympathiser to the plights of all the betrayed women of London. She helps them gain revenge, safety, a future. Her only rule? Nella will only kill men. No women are to be harmed as a result of her poison. In this way she ensures that her mother’s legacy of helping women remains untarnished. Until one customer and one mistake and one final death.

In the modern day London Caroline is on holiday. It was booked to celebrate her wedding anniversary, but her husband is not with her. She’d left him behind in America, unable to look him in the face after discovering his infidelity. Unsure how to spend her time alone, Caroline is drawn into joining a group of mudlarkers in the river Thames. There she discovers a glass apothecary bottle and slowly begins to unravel the scandalously dangerous history that it holds. And the secrets that hide within.

Nella, the main character of this book is a murderer. There is never any doubt of this fact. In fact, most of the characters that we meet in 18th century London are complicit in murder, one way or the other. Yet I very rarely felt any twinges of judgement, hatred or disgust towards them. All the normal emotions one might feel towards a murderer are just impossible to pin on the bitter but caring character of Nella. Or the sweet and naïve Eliza. Or Eliza’s kind and long-suffering mistress. Certainly this book is centred around an intriguing and complicated moral compass.

In comparison to Nella’s life, Caroline’s story is quite tame. It has its ups and downs, but doesn’t quite meet the same level of excitement and intrigue. Yet the small ways that the two stories mirror one another create an eerie level of interest that add an unnerving edge to everything that Caroline experiences. Her emotions in particular hold a heavy weight when compared to Nella’s experiences and where they led her.

By the end of the book I was fully invested in both women’s lives and rooting for the outcomes that they deserved. The ending of Caroline’s story was definitely satisfying, exactly the outcome I had hoped for. However Nella’s story ended in a much less cohesive way. Hints are given and assumptions made and the final moments of her narrative are viewed through a hallucinatory lens. The outcome of her story is laid out in the final pages as though it is a puzzle that still needs to be put together. In a way this confused uncertainty was much more satisfying than the neat conclusions of Caroline’s story; the mystery of it kept Nella and Eliza alive in my head long after I turned the final page.

18th century London - Should you need to rid yourself of an oppressive, deceitful or dangerous man, Nella Clavinger will help you. Just listen to the whisper network of the women around you, locate an abandoned shop and a hidden room. Once inside, Nella will brew you an undetectable poison to end his life. Business is good until one small mistake will put Nella in grave danger.

200 years later, Caroline finds herself in London alone and heartbroken. With one chance encounter and an act of fate, she finds a clue that will unravel what happened to the lost apothecary.

Like the poisons given to the men in this book, this novel took hold of me, sank under my skin and I was consumed by it..

There is just so much to love about this book. I have a list as long as my arm but to avoid spoilers, I will stick to these:

The cover is stunning.
The first chapter is so atmospheric and intriguing that you feel as if you are in the apothecary with Nella, watching her work. As I read on, I could barely put the book down and when I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about the mystery of what happened to Nella.

I learnt a lot reading this book about apothecary and London.

The women in The Lost Apothecary are so well written. They are complex, interesting and very likeable. They are relatable in their histories, their places in the world and their journeys. I quickly became really fond of them.

The Lost Apothecary will speak to any reader because it showcases the fact that challenges we face in life, span across all time periods. Two hundred years apart both Nella and Caroline have to navigate through deception, betrayal, identity infertility, invisibility, ambition and oppression.

More than anything, it deals with the timeless issue of female solidarity. It spotlights the importance of the bond between women and the chaos and destruction that come with breaking it.

This book deserves to go straight to the top of your TBR list. Perfect for those who love tension, mystery, friendship and twists.

I am so happy to have discovered this author and read her brilliant debut.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sarah Penner and Legend Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Caroline is on the run from her marriage and searching for some kind of anchor. It's a reevaluation of what her life has been up to this point, which has always been as the support system to her successful husband. There was no room for her own aspirations and dreams, perhaps it is time to start making choices with herself in mind.

Whilst searching for some sign and link to the next steps she happens upon a connection to the past. To a story of strong women willing to risk their lives to help other women in a time and society where oppression and subjugation were the norm for all women.

In the past, in eighteenth-century London, Nella has taken her mother's gift of healing and her shop to establish something akin to an underground network to help women in dire need. She has evolved the healing into something quite extraordinary, but perhaps also into something morally and ethically questionable. Then again it depends on the perspective and the person doing the questioning, right?

I loved this story and am surprised it isn't getting more attention. The author is clearly a talented storyteller. The past and present are fused together with a sense of magical realism and also one of staunch sisterhood, which can be felt beyond the years and centuries. There is an engrossing balance between historical fiction and contemporary read. Definitely a book I will be recommending.

This book was amazing. I was totally engrossed from the beginning. It's a dual timeline set on the late 1700s and the present day. The past tells of the days when women sought help from an Apothecary for medicinal reasons, usually relating to 'women problems'. In a time where these were not commonly discussed they shared their secrets with the Apothecary. Tinctures were bottled up for them to use. All natural ingredients, found from the earth. The mother of the Apothecary in this book used her knowledge to help women only. After she died her daughter Nella took over. It's really sad what happened to her but after this tragic event she used her knowledge to create lethal tinctures to be used on men that have wronged women.

The present is about Caroline, she's been cheated on by her husband and had booked a trip together but she went alone. She went mudlarking in the river and found a tincture bottle with a bear on it and investigates it origins.

I found this book really fascinating and although this is fiction this kind of thing did happen. It's left me with a curiosity to find out more about the work an apothecary as a complementary heath benefit, not to kill anyone! The ending for the three main characters was fitting. I'm glad we found out the conclusion from the newspaper archives. It was my first book by this author but it won't be my last.

Thank you to Netgalley, Legend Press and Sarah Penner for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for my honest review. I have to say the beautiful cover drew me to this book. Having read it, I was very impressed by this debut. I love a story with a dual timeline so I adored this book. Nella, Eliza and Caroline's stories weaved together well and I was totally immersed in this tale. A rainy Saturday well spent.

The first thing you will notice about The Lost Apothecary is the stunning cover, but this book is so much more than that.

It is 1791 and Nella is working as an apothecary in a back alley in London. Nella has been helping in the apothecary as a young child, the tinctures were her playthings. In those days the apothecary was only a place of healing now it is a place for desperate women to come who are looking for poison.

The book begins with Nella awaiting a new client whose name and rank she is unaware of. The only thing she knows is that her new client wants someone dead.

“I ran my fingers over the ink of words, imagining what despair brought the woman to seek out someone like me. Not an apothecary, but a murderer.”

Nella has a book in which she documents all of her clients and all the victims of her poisoning, except the first. Fredrick.

“I couldn’t have known that mere months after falling in love with him, I would dispense a fatal dose of rat poison to kill him.

The first betrayal. The first victim. The beginning of a stained legacy.”

In the present timeline Caroline is visiting London on what should have been her tenth anniversary trip with her husband James. Now she is in London alone with some very important decisions to make.

I have read some people commenting that they weren’t as keen on this timeline, but I loved both equally and couldn’t wait to see what happened in both.

Whilst in London Caroline gets invited to join a group of people who are mudlarking – a pursuit often written about by Victorian authors. Whilst there she makes a discovery that connects her with Nella and sets her on a new path.

“The bottle stood no more than five inches tall, more of a vial, given it’s small size – and was made of translucent, sky blue glass, hidden beneath a layer of caked on mud. “

One of the things I enjoyed the most about The Lost Apothecary was the way it outlines a different aspect of history for the reader, one that is virtually unexplored, and it does so in such a charming way.

I can’t end my review without talking about Eliza, my favourite character. Innocent and a bit naïve but as strong and capable as the other women in the book. Oh, and if you want to know who she is you will have to read the book.

My interest in this book was piqued by the cover and some of the excellent reviews here on GR. I happen to like stories set in different timelines and I was not disappointed. The characters of Nella and Eliza are very well drawn out and early in the book I could relate to them. Caroline, I liked a little less; I thought her a rather unreliable person because during the story there are many times, she decides not to disclose something that would have helped other people. Or even herself. Yes, her husband was unfaithful. But maybe he was just a little bored with her; after all, she decided not to follow her dream but became someone who’s existence is build upon what her husband is and does. I’m happy that in the end she made some good decisions though.
I found the story very well researched and written and I’m looking forward to reading more books by Sarah Penner.

Seeing the raving reviews, I had high hopes and couldn’t wait to read this story. But after reading it, I was a little disappointed. It’s an okay read, but I found it a bit boring. So, please, check the four and five-star ratings if you want to know why other readers love this book so much.

What did I like? I love dual timelines, especially when they merge seamlessly like they do in this book. It was an easy and fast read, and the writing was good, active, descriptive, and vivid. Women helping women. A gorgeous cover and I liked the timeline in 1791. Eliza was such a brave and wonderful twelve-year-old. But ...

I just couldn’t get into the story, especially Caroline’s. I didn’t like her story very much, didn’t care about her failing relationship with James. I even started skimming some pages, not because I wanted to know what happened next (I do that when I really, really like a book 🤔), but because I was bored. I was even craving for a new book to read.

So, let’s say this story and I are just not the best match. But I’m sure a lot of readers will love this story.

With echoes of "Possession" by AS Byatt or a Kate Mosse book, this story, "The Lost Apothecary" by Sarah Penner, should be of interest to those who enjoy books about London and history. In popular current storytelling format, this book spans two timeframes. It is interesting to see how the current time frame links with the past. A fascinating story and would like to read more of her works.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is an impressive debut featuring a dual timeline. Part of the story is set in eighteenth century London, where Nella runs an apothecary shop with a difference, concealed behind a false wall. She specialises in poisons, and her only rule is that they cannot be used against another woman, but only against men who have wronged her customers. She did not start her career this way, her mother taught her all about curatives and remedies, but a tragic event in her youth left her bitter and determined to help other women. One fateful day she meets Eliza, a twelve year old servant girl who comes to collect some poisoned eggs on behalf of her mistress, and the two spark up an unlikely friendship. Once she overcomes her initial trepidation Eliza is fascinated by Nella and her skills and seeks to become an apprentice of sorts. A dreadful mistake puts both women's lives in danger and seems likely to end in tragedy.
Meanwhile in modern day London, American Caroline is on an anniversary trip that to say the least is not going to plan. While packing for the trip she discovers that her husband of ten years has been unfaithful. Needing to get away and think , not just about the future of her marriage but also about the other areas in her life where she feels dissatisfied , she comes to London by herself . On a mudlarking expedition in the Thames she uncovers a glass vial engraved with a bear symbol that sparks her curiosity and her passion for history , and sets her off on a journey that will lead to the uncovering of Nella and Eliza's story.
As is often the case with dual time lines, I did find myself more drawn to the parts of the story set in the past with Nella and Eliza, but that is not to say that I did not enjoy Caroline's story too. The past storyline just had more tension and drama, and I loved the character of Eliza in particular. I really appreciated the fact that the author included the idea of recording the women's details in Nella's ledger, as it is so true that women's stories and identities ( other than wife or mother ) are so often lost in history, it was a really nice touch. The writing is very good, it is evocative and descriptive and flows very well. All the characters are well crafted and interesting in their own ways, though Caroline's husband does seem a little one dimensional . I did find the magical turn of events at the end a little disappointing, I would have preferred a more realistic solution but this is a small gripe about a book I enjoyed very much.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I really liked this book, but felt the story was so much more interesting in the earlier timeframe of the late 1700's to the present day. I love stories set over various time zones but find one time is always more interesting in most books. I enjoyed Nellas story of tinctures and potions, helping the women of London avenge the cheating, abusive men in their lives. In present-day London, Caroline 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. Caroline and Nellas lives collide with fateful consequences.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

SPOILERS


This was definitely one of those dual timeline books where I had a preference,and would be eagerly awaiting a return to the past... all those poisons and deserved deaths seemed far more appealing than an american tourist.
I read this during a lockdown,it made me miss the Thames,the sight of mudlarkers and a casual stroll around the british museum.
Overall I enjoyed the story,the detective work,the foolish husband getting his come uppance,the endings for all the characters.
Nicely atmospheric.

This will undoubtedly be one of my favourite reads of 2021. It had everything I love in a book!

Dual timeframe? Tick.
Feminism? Tick.
Magic? Tick.
British Library? Tick.
London? Tick.
Strong sense of place? Tick.

The gothic feel will appeal to fans of du Maurier, the historical element to fans of Sarah Waters/Jessie Burton. Being swept away by Nella, Eliza and Caroline's adventures was exactly what I needed during this lockdown and a timely reminder that the present is a result of the past.

Deserves to be the book everyone is talking about!

Nella Clavinger in the late eighteenth century is a ‘friend’ to women and a ‘brewer of secrets’ and twelve year old maid Eliza Fanning is sent to consult her on behalf of her mistress. In the twenty first century American Caroline Parcewell is on vacation and takes up Bachelor Alf’s offer to join a mudlarking search. Her discovery on the banks of the Thames takes her in a journey of investigation, self discovery and realisation. The story is told by these three women.

This is fabulous storytelling which is so immersive, compelling and very hard to put down. The narrative is visual and so you feel the squelch of the Thames sticky mud, the soot blackened apothecary comes to life before your eyes and so you see what the characters see. There’s a magical atmosphere permeating the narrative and blending with ghostly, gothic overtones. You feel the chills, the goosebumps, the hairs standing up on the back of your neck and sense the impending danger. The use of language for Nella and Eliza is authentic as is the historical context. I like the contrast between then and now but which also demonstrates clearly that some things never change. The characterisation is very good with them all being well developed. The plot unfolds at a good pace with twists and turns, keeping you wanting to find out the outcome and fate of the key characters. There’s suspicion and tension, threat and manipulation in both time periods, fear and betrayal of trust with a desire for revenge which leads to the alteration of life’s course, demonstrating too that lives can change on a dime. For Caroline, the trip to London gives her the time to think but which also awakens something dormant or suppressed in her. In some ways all the women wear disguises of some sort which are revealed to us as the storyline progresses especially as truths are dredged up and brought to the surface.

Overall, this is a captivating and clever story which is very well written. It’s dark, a bit sinister, intense, magical, ghostly with the two parallel timelines blending seamlessly. This is good escapist reading which I recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Legend Press for the much appreciated arc for an honest review.

The Lost Apothecary is a wonderful novel set in both eighteenth-century and modern-day London.
Nelle makes potions to help women resolve their issues with the men in their lives - by resolve - read as murder.
Twelve-year-old Eliza visits Nelles shop on behalf of her mistress where she is to procure a potion

Caroline and her husband are trying for a baby when she discovers her husband's affair. Instead of flying to London together - she leaves him and takes the trip solo, Not long after her arrival, she joins a mudlarking expedition where she finds a small blue bottle. This is where the story begins to unfold and truly intertwine.

The characters are richly described and the story flows very well from one chapter to another.
There is a great unexpected twist to the end of the story - which I did not foresee.

A really enjoyable read.

What a mysterious and exciting dual timeline story! It has an air of female mystique and witchcraft, plus an exciting storyline.

Sarah Penner's debut is an intriguing and atmospheric piece of historical fiction revolving around women, set in the tail end of the 18th century in London, a story that shifts from the past and the present. In the 1790s, a once reputable apothecary, Nella, has ventured into darker and more dangerous territory, that of dispensing poisons to desperate women in dire situations due to the men who have damaged or wronged them. She intends that no woman is harmed, and she records her transactions in a register, the names, including that of the poisoner and the victim. The young child Eliza Fanning is a sparky and bright personality who is sent to get poison, and a friendship develops between Nella and Eliza. Unsurprisingly, Nella's intentions run into difficulties when it comes to implementing them.

In the present, the American Caroline Parcewell's marriage has run into difficulties, she has made the unpalatable discovery that her husband of ten years has been unfaithful to her. She finds herself alone as she travels to London on her wedding anniversary. She decides to join a mudlarkers group in search of finds from the past in the muds of the banks of the River Thames, unearthing an old vial. This allows her to indulge her love of history as she engages in historical research and the mystery that is two centuries old, and a string of unsolved murders in her search for the truth. In this entertaining and engaging character driven read, of secrets, vengeance, betrayal, being a women, relationships between women, friendship, self discovery, poisons and murder, the past and present connect in the most unexpected of ways.

This is a relatively short and suspenseful novel from Penner, well written, which beautifully evokes the London of the time, and includes intricate historical details of the period. The position of women is a central theme, and the narrative reflects the culture and the social norms and attitudes of the time. My favourite timeline was definitely the more compelling historical one rather than the present one, there is an unevenness in how the connections unfold and in storytelling, but I liked how Caroline ends up working her way through the challenges that she faces. Many thanks to Legend Press for an ARC.