I sobbed while reading the final chapter of this book. It completely hit me in the face, i started the novel thinking it would be maybe a 3 star, boy was i wrong. Thomas Hammond the apothecary had many lessons to learn at the start of this novel despite his age, and his poetic apprentice John Keats is the perfect one to teach him. I loved the development of their relationship throughout the novel, and loved the two of them individually as characters. The many different familial relationships in the novel gripped me, i loved Eliza of course. I have spoken more eloquently in my video i've linked below.

The realities of 19th century medicine are of course shocking, and putting the reader in an ordinary village to experience what day to day 19th century GPs were treating was very humbling. I love learning something new about the past when i read historical fiction, and i came away with so much knowledge as well as having my heart ripped out.

On Storygraph i've given it a 4.5, but i feel like 4 is too low so i've rounded up here. On storygraph it looked like this is Mellany Ambrose's debut, and i cannot wait to see what comes next. In fact, i'll be first in line.

‘Poetry can’t save lives.’
‘But it can offer comfort and consolation, which are also important and always needed.’

Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice is the first novel by British GP and author, Mellany Ambrose. In mid 1814, apothecary surgeon Thomas Hammond has two apprentices: his son Edward is destined to become a surgeon, and is thus the focus of his medical training; innkeeper’s son John Keats is being trained as an apothecary, and his duties being running errands and other lowly tasks, which he finds demeaning.

Thomas’s older brother William is also an apothecary surgeon but, unlike Thomas and their now-deceased father, he eschews treating workhouse patients, instead selecting his patients from amongst the wealthy and titled, thus ensuring his own wealth. Thomas’s path to becoming a surgeon ended with a tragic incident during his training at Guy’s, over which he plagued with shame and guilt.

When Thomas finds John reading poetry, he asks: “‘But what do you gain from reading all this poetry?’
‘A world of beauty.’ In the moonlight John’s face was soft, his eyes dreamy.
‘There’s no space for beauty in an apothecary’s world. We’re rooted in pain and disease, human suffering.’” Thomas wonders how anyone can turn this dreamer into a competent apothecary. And yet…

Edward Hammond is clearly a brat, spoilt by his mother and indulged by his uncle, while John is disappointed that his role doesn’t seem to effectively relieve suffering as promised. There’s no love lost between the two; rather, resentment often sees them acting like wilful children, even as they near twenty years old.

Edward is sent to train under William, while Thomas spends more time with John, in preparation for his time at Guy’s hospital, but John won’t give up his fascination with poetry: “I feel I’m two people, my apprentice self and once a week my literary self.’
‘Make sure it stays that way. You’ll never help anyone with poetry’ is his master’s reply.

By the time their five-year terms as apprentices are drawing to an end, Thomas realises that “John shone at mixing, his Latin was outstanding and his knowledge was good. He could be hesitant, but he was careful” while “Edward was decisive, enthusiastic and energetic. The patients warmed to him.”

Thomas feels Edward has learned bad habits from his uncle: his Latin is poor, his work slapdash, and he makes too many errors while, under his own tuition, John has shown such promise that Thomas begins to think that, of the pair, John should be the surgeon.

In what is without doubt a well-researched tale, Ambrose’s description of Georgian era medicine will have readers extremely grateful they don’t live in the early nineteenth Century. While the various cases that the men deal with, and the treatments they use, are often interesting, the story does drag a bit and is repetitive in places; the characters are not easy to connect with and, ultimately, there’s a lot more sorrow than joy in this story. Still, an impressive debut.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Matador.

Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose is a lovely historical fiction novel. The story contains some accurate medical history. I enjoyed reading it.

If you were forced to study British literature at all, you know Keats. But have you ever wondered what his life was like before he trained at Guy's Hospital?

This book is beautifully written and delivered so much more than I was expecting. At a time when consumption reigned, apothecaries could do nothing more than simply ease the symptoms of illness. A marvellous example of historical fiction, little facts are actually known about this specific time in Keats' life. Hammond was actually one of the first general practitioners in England, and this story displays the stark reality of medicine in the Georgian era. Above all, it is a tale of duty, family, hope, and learning to see beyond science and suffering.

This was a very good and interesting read. It had alot of true medical history in it along with the fictional tale and Mellany weaved them expertly. I highly enjoyed this.
I just reviewed Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose. #MrHammondandthePoeticApprentice #NetGalley
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As a fan of historical fiction, one of my favorite types of these books are ones that shed some light on an unexpected or unknown part of someone’s life, especially someone famous like John Keats. I knew a bit about Keats’s life, his mother’s death from tuberculosis, and his own when he was still a very young man, but I didn’t know anything about this chapter in his brief history. The book is told from the perspective of John’s mentor, Thomas Hammond, who is a local apothecary surgeon. Hammond struggles with reconciling the fact that he wants to save every one of his patients but ultimately knows that many of the treatment options he has to offer them aren’t likely to help. Hammond also carries the weight of a self-imposed burden from a past episode during his training as a surgeon, and one which colors how he thinks about himself and his role as the local doctor.

The book builds the characters of Hammond and Keats very well. I felt like I knew both of these men better by the book’s ending. There are lovely references to life events that Keats experienced which were later revisited in his poems. The author also builds a completely believeable world in which these men operated – an area just outside of London, still focused on agriculture in the early 19th century, but leaning into developments in science (particularly medicine) that would come to fruition as the century moved on. Keats is portrayed as a young man with many talents – he certainly seems like he could have been a good country doctor since his caring and empathy (and sensitive nature) were all things that made his patients trust him – although we ultimately know that he decided to use those talents in a different way.

I did, however, feel like the book was a bit too slowly paced. There were a lot of dialogue scenes between Keats and Hammond that didn’t really move the plot along. I’m not sure if that was a specific artistic decision or if it was because there are few actual facts available about these years of Keats’s life, and it was a way for the author to try to expand on the limited factual information available. A pleasant, easy read which I enjoyed. Recommended for English literature/Keats fans and with some reservations for general historical fiction fans

Average read, the way it's written is kind of elementary... but that just may be the way people spoke at the time. Not an outstanding star of a book, but fine and good enough if you need something to read.

This book tells the story of Thomas Hammond, an apothecary surgeon in a small village, and his two young apprentices: his own son Edward, and an orphan called John Keats. John's heart isn't in the work, he much rather read, and write poetry. He's too soft to do what needs to be done, perform painful surgery on the patients.
The story explores how people are different, and what's important in life.

I loved all the vivid descriptions of country life, the herbal medicine making, and the books that were read by John Keats.
This book is slow-paced, but kept hold of my attention. I read it in a day!

I was drawn to this book purely for the beautiful cover. I didn't even read the description before requesting it. They say not to judge a book by its cover but I'm so glad I did.
Set at a time when bleeding and leeches are the main medicine and it only takes 1 year studying at Guys Hospital London to become a surgeon this beautifully imagined story tells of the poet John Keats early life studying medicine.
The imagery is so vividly discribed you can practically see it infront of you and the characters are well thought out.

I really enjoyed this book.

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction from this era and so had very high hopes that this unfortunately didn't quite live up to. This is clearly a well researched book, based on the life of the poet John Keats who apprenticed as an apothecary for five years, then did a year of training in apothecary and surgery at a London hospital. But he was not cut out for that life and became a poet

I'm a fan of historical fiction and had hoped for some interesting reading with "Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice" by Mellany Ambrose but on the whole found it dull. Some of the subject matter was interesting and I have certainly learnt some things but it wasn't giving off the right vibe for me.

Mr. Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice is one of those novels that doesn't completely live up to its potential, but is still worth a read. The book begins with the fact that John Keats apprenticed as an apothecary for five years, then did a year of training in apothecary and surgery at a London hospital. But he never became a practitioner, deciding instead to focus on poetry.

Mellany Ambrose—who is herself a general practitioner based in London—has carefully researched what she can regarding that apprenticeship, the apothecary Keats studied under, and the teaching hospital where he trained. Within those constraints, she goes where her imagination directs, addressing a great many topics in the process, among them

• The limits of early 19th Century medicine which relied on treatments like cupping and bloodletting and used toxic ingredients like mercury as well as herbal mixtures.
• The question of how doctors live with their failings—both the cases where they make costly mistakes harming their patients and the cases they simply can't treat at all.
• The pressures of general practitioners, especially of those working in poorer communities, where their skills are always needed, but payment can be slow or nonexistent.
• The tensions between "scientific" treatments and more humanistic treatments.
• The powers that both art and medicine have (and don't have) to improve the quality of life.
• Family tensions at a time when daughters were to be married off and sons were expected to to learn the their fathers' professions and carry on family businesses.
• The "boutique" (my term, not the author's) medicine provided to patients by practitioners focused on income, who treat the hypochondriacal rich with specialty produced like pills covered in gold leaf and follow medical fads that often have no real basis in science.

This book packs in a lot.

At times the writing dragged a bit, and there were moments when the writer declared what characters were thinking, rather than showing it through their actions. But Mr. Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice kept me thinking—and left me wanting to learn more. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Interesting subject, both the characters and the way illnesses were treated in the past.
The rivalry between Edward and John added an extra something.
Enjoyable, but I think not very memorable in a while.

I’m really enjoying historical fiction at the moment and this jumped out at me. Particularly because it was based on a true story.

John is Thomas’s apprentice, learning all things medical. Thomas sees greatness in him and thinks he will make a good surgeon one day but John’s passion is poetry.

It’s an interesting story about medicine in the past and a tale about how one must follow their own path regardless of money.

It kept my attention and I wanted to keep reading. It also had me researching past methods and why on earth they ‘bled’ everyone.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Honestly, this was just okay. While the writing was good and the characters were fine, it just didn't hold my attention like I wanted and to be transparent, I did DNF at 55%. This wasn't a bad book, just wasn't for me.