This was a decent book, but felt underdeveloped and could have used a little more story. However, the book grew stronger as it went on, and ended very satisfactorily.

Caroline is in London, on what should be her 10th anniversary trip with her husband. However, he did something unforgivable, so she has escaped and taken the trip by herself. Meanwhile, many years ago, Nella runs an apothecary that primarily provides poisons for women who have been wronged by men.

Caroline, at first, is a very annoying character. She put aside all of her dreams for a man who looks down on her and her ambitions, then justifies his cheating on her by saying that he was tired of their "boring" life. But she begins to come alive in London, finding a small blue glass vial and researching where it came from and what it might have been used for.

Nella's story is a sad one, but she also lives a life outside the confines most women had to live in in the late 1700s. She no longer has much of a desire to dispense poisons, and feels she made a wrong decision many years ago to follow this path.

This book has promise, but the story doesn't feel as fleshed out as it could be. You certainly can have a book that is too long as well, but this one felt a bit rushed at times. The ending fit with the rest of the book, and showed the strength of the characters.

I loved the underlying women's rights story, as women have always had to carve out their own paths when they don't fit into the normal "female" mold. Caroline grew as a character and grew a backbone, which was much needed!

I enjoyed this book, but would have liked more story.

With her relationship falling apart, Caroline heads out on a mudlarking expedition in London. There, she discovers an old vial, Caroline discovers an centuries old string of unsolved murders. Using her love of research, it seems destiny to solve ethe murders. As she fights her own demons, clues she uncovers lead her to a hidden apothecary for women where the owners make a living creating potions to help women. Told through three points of view and two timelines, the novel is slow to start and hard to follow. The characters, however, are likable, realistic, and easy to relate to. Readers who like stories told through different timelines, mystery, and literary fiction will enjoy reading this book. Recommended where historical mysteries are popular. 3 stars. Grades 8 to 12.

Please note: This was a complementary review copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No financial compensation was received.

Author Penner keeps the pages turning as we transport back into 18th century London. A modern day researcher who has found her marriage lacking and her life not at all what she expected takes a break from her life in the US to "celebrate" her anniversary sans husband in London. While there, Caroline's interest in local history is piqued when she finds a small blue glass apothecary bottle etched with a crude drawing of a bear. Trying to identify where the bottle originated and what it was used for leads her into the life of Nella, a woman who uses the apothecary shop as a secret way for scorned women to exact revenge upon the men in their lives who have wronged them. She creates undetectable poisons. When a wealthy woman demands poison to do in her husband's lover, Nella must do as she says or be exposed as a witch. The poisoning scheme goes wrong and the authorities are on the hunt for Nella. Meanwhile, Caroline's cheating husband shows up unannounced in London and is suspiciously poisoned. Penner does an excellent job of keeping both story lines moving independently as well as keeping a tight thread between them so each story is bound to the other. Kudos for including the British Library in Caroline's research!

Timelines are crossed but the message is the same. Deceit, lying, and young women's broken hearts are the same in any century but with slightly different outcomes. Time separates the two characters, but the pain and betrayal feel much the same. The Lost Apothecary is a treasure to be unlocked and a mystery to be solved, one page at a time. This story is mesmerizing and sinister, in a good way and I couldn't stop reading it. It would make an incredible movie.

I could not put down this thrilling work of historical fiction. In late-1700s London, Nella is a woman apothecary who brews poisons in her hidden shop, helping women to protect or revenge themselves against the men who have wronged them. When Nella reluctantly sells her wares to the wrong woman, it puts her life – and the life of her young apprentice – in grave danger. In modern-day London, Caroline is an amateur historian, reeling from her own romantic betrayal, who stumbles across the centuries-old mystery of the hidden apothecary shop and its lethal proprietress. The action alternates between the women as Nella faces up to the consequences of her dark business and Caroline closes in on the truth of the apothecary’s fate. With well-drawn characters and a plot that doesn’t let up, I enjoyed every word of this book.

Though the language/writing in this book was on the simplistic side, I really enjoyed the concept and overall story. It was definitely compelling enough to keep me reading late into the night. I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, so I appreciated the contrast between the historical story and the modern one.

If you are a fan of thrillers, of strong female protagonists, or historical fiction, you will enjoy this book!

This is an intriguing story of historical fiction about Nella, an apothecary from late 18th century London, who's story is uncovered by modern day Caroline, after she finds an old bottle on the shore of the Thames. Caroline discovers a back alley shop that catered to women who had been wronged by men and needed a solution to their problems: poison.

Caroline is on what should have been her 10th anniversary vacation to London with her husband, except she's there alone after finding out he had been cheating on her. When she finds the bottle with a bear etched on it, her interest in history is rekindled and she is off to find out more about the apothecary.

Nella's mother was an apothecary, but she followed the rules and only dispensed medicines that would help the purchaser. When Nella takes over the shop, she has a new found understanding of the mistreatment of women and decides to help them remove the men from their lives. She kept a ledger of dates and names (I'm not really sure why...maybe I missed the reason), like her mother had done.

There are a few gaps in this story, but overall it was enjoyable and fun to read about Caroline's research and the friend she makes while in London.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Penner's upcoming novel The Lost Apothecary is a dual-timeline story set in London. In the late 1700s, Nella has turned her apothecary skills to a sideline in poison. She helps women escape from abusive husbands or take revenge on sexual assaulters by carefully blending poisons. As a strange sort of penance or maybe a reminder of when the shop was a respectable herbalists, she records the names of the purchaser, poison type, and intended victim carefully. On one hand, absolute historian's dream, but on the other, it's almost like Nella wants to be caught. When a young girl comes on behalf of her mistress, seeking a permanent solution to a handsy employer, she is entranced by Nella's herbal blends.

Today, Caroline finds herself alone in what should have been her anniversary trip to London. She bumps into a group mudlarking along the Thames, and then happens upon a strange old vial washed up in the mud. This leads her to researching the vial, and discovering more about an old and possibly forgotten apothecary.

This was an intriguing story, with conflict and discovery in both storylines. There were a couple moments that strained credulity, mostly in the coincidences that set the plot in motion and one that gave me an extreme eye-roll (Really? Her notebook flipped open to that page at that exact moment? Sounds fake but ok). Individually, the coincidences work, but as they built up, I started to wonder if Caroline was the descendant of one of the apothecary women, and there was a supernatural force behind her just stumbling onto everything. Then again, the story of finding a cool old artifact and hitting a research dead-end would be a much shorter, less interesting story.

The two timelines connect thematically, with themes of women's friendship against male-dominated life, although they aren't parallels.  Fans of The Dollhouse, The Lions of Fifth Avenue, and other Fiona Davis novels will enjoy the dual-timeline narrative in The Lost Apothecary.

The Lost Apothecary
A Novel
by Sarah Penner
HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada)
Park Row
Historical Fiction | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 02 Mar 2021 | Archive Date Not set

I was drawn into the current and historical timelines. Great book! I'm glad I read it.
Thanksto Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC.

4 star

Caroline is in London alone after finding out about her husband's infidelity. She finds an old bottle in the Thames and in searching for clues about the bottle, she uncovers the mystery of an apothecary killer in London 200 years ago. In alternating chapters, Nellie and Eliza tell their side of the story from the late 18th century. I enjoyed reading about Caroline's historical research at The British Library and all the different ways Nellie made poison from natural ingredients. Caroline's research however gets her in a bit of trouble with the police. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked how this one opened - I was immediately drawn into both the contemporary and historical story lines and found the characters compelling and the plots engaging. It was clicking along quite well, then suddenly somehow I lost the rhythm and never regained it... The characters and plot felt flattened, and lost the edge that kept me in the story. I can't point to where/when/why it happened, which is odd - I just know it lost me... I'm definitely in the minority on this one though, so it's possible it's just not a good book for me right now.

I absolutely loved this title. Admittedly, I"m not a huge fan of historical fiction, but this was just the right blend of current and historical to be a beautifully written mystery. The feminist aspects of it were timely and well deserved. In fact, I could see a spin-off title, although I'm pleased with this ending. My fans of all things magic will enjoy it and I cannot wait to recommend it.

Fantasy for the Me Too! movement! Trying to help the powerless achieve some justice, an Apothecary, seeing the damage caused to her customers, steps over the boundaries of her profession and her oaths. Before women had legal recourse and the ability to band together in public forums to give power to their voices and stories, this was many times an alternative to remediate wrongs. Remember the Burning Bed?

This was such a good book! I loved it from the start. I love the writing and the story, I was drawing to the magic of the timelines. And nothing turned out how I thought it would.

Wonderfully researched, beautifully written, and an intriguing premise of a woman apothecary who uses her knowledge of herbs and other natural remedies to help her female clients punish (aka murder) the men in their lives who have hurt/abused them.

I'm a sucker for a dual timeline, and Penner weaves a story that bounces back and forth between the late 1700s and Nella, the apothecary of the title, and present day Caroline, who finds one of Nella's apothecary bottles while on an impulsive "mudlarking" expedition in the River Thames.

While both stories are well done, it's Nella's that I'm drawn to. The local authorities consider Nella's acts that of a serial killer. Meanwhile Nella, once a healer like her mother, and now the very opposite, has a code of ethics of sorts - her poisons should never be used on women, and only on men who are guilty of wrongdoing. She is joined by Eliza, a precocious 12-year-old servant girl who is sent by her mistress to procure a poison. Their story was stronger and had me turning pages, while Caroline's historical research through the British Library into the bottle and where it came from was interesting (from the research perspective).

The author ties the two stories together neatly. All and all, its a really enjoyable tale.

I loved this book! It is very well-written, suspenseful, informative, and fascinating! It is set in two time periods - present day and 1791, both in London. Nella is the titular apothecary in 1791 who serves only women, both for good and for harm. She has a secret room behind her regular shop where the "harm" takes place. Eliza is a 12-year-old servant girl who meets Nella when she runs an errand for her mistress. In present-day London, American visitor Caroline discovers a blue vial in the River Thames while "mudlarking," a discovery that will change her life. The story is so beautifully written, skillfully moving between past and present to tell the interwoven story. All three women are strongly drawn characters, different in many ways but similar in intelligence and strength. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing an ARC.

I’ve been reading a lot of books that have the dual time thing going on and I really like them, although when things get really intense in one of the settings and it’s the end of the chapter and jumps to the other timeline I get a little crazy! This is a really interesting read that has so much history, adventure and a good imagining of women’s lives in the 1800’s. The whole idea of herbology/alchemy is simply fascinating. Well done!

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I love a good story of magic and witchery and expected to find that in this title. While not a book about magic, it had the feel of old witchery with a female apothecarist who uses her knowledge of herbology and toxicology to provide poisons to women in need. I enjoyed the dual narrative jumping back and forth from present day and 1791. I liked following the apothecarist's story and learning of how she turned from curing to killing. In the present day, we follow the narrative of a historian alone on her 10th anniversary trip after learning that her husband had been unfaithful. While in London, she finds a relic from the past that leads her to discover the story of the apothecary killer. The book was well written, creative, and really fun to read. I was interested from the first page to the last. Great book to get lost in and just enjoy the story.

18th century London and current times intersect in this lovely mystery involving an apothecary shoot that dispensed curatives and poisons to women seeking improvement in their lives and a young woman whose life was put on hold, and then upended by her unfaithful husband, who uncovers the secret of the shop. Very readable with good plot development and plenty of London back alley history. Clever, different, and satisfying.

What an absolutely fantastic idea for a novel! I loved the writing, the premise, the inter-generational story line- everything!! I am absolutely buying this book for my library- it would be a great book club pick. Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book!