Nella was my favorite part of the whole book. The voice actor for her was phenomenal.

Though it was emotional, I enjoyed learning about Nella's heartbreaking past that explains why she has a shop of poisons. The only thing is, they must never be used to hurt another woman. I love that she keeps record of those she distributes poisons to, so that they may have a mark in the world.

I listened to the audiobook of The Lost Apothecary, and found the narrators did a great job. I loved the dual timeline and felt that it was well written and easy to follow.

There are so many parts of this book that I loved and a few that moved me to tears. This will probably be my top book of 2021.

I received an ARC audiobook, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This isn’t my normal genre but I really enjoyed this audiobook. The story is split between the 18th century and current date. Current day Caroline goes Mudlarking on her “honeymoon” trip when she comes across a vial with a tiny etched bear on it. This sends Caroline down a mysterious path reigniting her love for history, which I was happy to join her. Past time Nella has vowed to help all women in their quests against men veering from her mother’s previous running of the apothecary, which was do no harm. Nella will help women, even her new friend Eliza who is only 12. Their friendship really drew me in. Both storylines are compelling and kept me listening. The narration was great. I can’t wait to see what Sarah Penner will write next.

I received and voluntarily listened to an ARC from Harper Audio and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“The best apothecary was one who knows intimately the despair felt by her patient, whether in the skin, the mouth, the womb, or the heart. And though I could not relate to this woman’s place in society—for there were no gatehouses or footmen to be seen in Back Alley—I knew, firsthand, her inner turmoil. Heartache is shared by all, and favors no rank.”

In 1790’s England, an apothecary, horribly wronged by a man she thought loved her, vows to help liberate women from the men who have harmed them. Rule 1-the poison can never be used against another woman. Rule 2-the names of the murderer and her victim must be documented in the register. When 12 year old Eliza finds herself in Nella’s apothecary shop on behalf of her mistress, these two women set in motion events that will have a ripple effect spanning to present day. Told in a dual timeline, present day Caroline is an aspiring historian. While walking the river Thames, she finds an old apothecary vial etched with a bear. She is intrigued and starts digging, finding information about unsolved “apothecary murders.” Will she be able to uncover that which has been hidden for centuries?

Five big, beautiful stars for this glorious historical fiction novel. This is a debut?! Wow! I loved following these strong women. I definitely enjoyed the storyline with Nella and Eliza and the apothecary more than Caroline’s story, though. History may have you believing that women were always submissive and under a mans thumb, but this story gives me hope that women had a voice, even in those times.

If you love historical fiction, female empowerment, and even elements of murder mysteries, pick this one up! It will not disappoint.

I was gifted the audio version as well as print and the audio version was fantastic! I found myself listening more than reading. The three different narrators really bring distinction to these ladies, giving them life and a personality that lacks when there is just one narrator.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin, Harper Audio and the author for these ARC’s in exchange for an honest review.

From Carmen Henley's Reviews on Goodreads:
The Lost Apothecary is one of those stories that capture the imagination and keep you up late into the night. The audiobook readers were terrific, from the modern Caroline and her new friend, Gaynor, at the British Library, to the 18th century Nella, who runs an apothecary first started by her mother to aid women's ailments. I cannot fault the reading or the story itself, and I enjoyed switching from modern-day to the 1700s. However, I must admit to a little frustration when the narrative was interrupted to go back (or forward) when the story was particularly gripping.
I am in awe of this author for producing this outstanding first novel. The themes of women's friendships, betrayal, and courage are nicely defined.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Audio for the advanced copy of this book.

In this Covid time of Bridgerton and Outlander Sarah Penner's The Lost Apothecary is their sister story. I found myself binge listen, running out of things to do making me go for a ride in my car.. This story of women's struggles through love, loss and time will keep you wondering if you would have ever crossed the threshold of 3B. A dive in able book that will make you swim back and forth into the past and wonder how the past can make waves today. Definitely not a waste of Time...

Caroline's life seems to be collapsing at the seams. She finds out her marriage of 10 years has brought her happiness, but not fulfillment. Her husband seems to feel the same. Things happen. And Caroline decides she needs some time and space, so she embarks on her anniversary trip to London on her own. She is determined to do the things on this trip that she wants to do and not drink and cry the entire trip.
Then Fate intervenes and twists the lives of Caroline, a librarian, an apothecary and her sort of apprentice together in flashes of narrative that move back and forth 200 years in time: 1791 to present time. Caroline goes mud-larking - the last thing she had expected to do and finds a glass vial in the river with an image of a bear engraved in it. Her never used, but beloved love of history kicks in and she starts off on a quest for the origin story of the vial. Caroline makes an ally in her quest with a librarian who is as curious and excited to find out more about the vial as she is.
Flash back in time: Nella is an apothecary whose tragic backstory causes her to turn to the darker aspects of her profession to help women in need. A client brings Eliza into her life. Eliza is eager to please and fascinated with the trade/skills of being an apothecary. When the wrong person dies, they are thrown together in a race to escape a tragic fate.
What I love about this novel: The two narratives mirror each other soooo well. The treasure hunt turned into a historical fact finding mission had me eager to find out the resolution of an unsolved case from history that stemmed from a chance find of a glass vial in a muddy river. It was an epic adventure. I loved the audiobook narration too.

In 1791, we meet Nella, an apothecary. Not just any apothecary, but one who helps women specifically. With the knowledge of plants and such passed down from her mother, Nella is the one women seek when they are wronged by men through things such as abuse and infidelity and that wish to take care of them. One day 12 year old Eliza seeks out her assistance at the request of her mistress. Eager and curious to learn the trade, Eliza becomes more than just a customer in Nellas' life when the two end up in more of a predicament than they anticipated.

In present day, we meet Caroline who is about to celebrate her 10th anniversary with her husband. Just days before their planned trip to the UK, Caroline discovers that her husband has been keeping a secret from her. With her heart broken she goes forward with the trip alone determined to make the best of it. One of the first jaunts she makes as a tourist involves her being knee deep mudlarking alongside others when she spots something that catches her eye. A small blue vile. With a passion for history, she sets out to find out more details behind this treasure which not only leads her on a path she thought she had long ago left behind, but unravels the history behind this blue vile as well as the two individuals linked to it.

I received this audio book as an ARC from Netgalley and Harper Audio in exchange for my honest opinion. I have recently gotten into historical fiction books and I'm so thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to be able to read this one. I absolutely loved it! The three narrators did a great job and the storyline was unique and easy to follow with a quite surprising ending. This is definitely a must read in my opinion. I rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

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.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner 🎧

This story follows Nella, an apothecary in the 1700s, Eliza the young woman interested in what Nella does, and Caroline in present day. Each of these women was very interesting and entertaining. They were strong characters and I loved how they stayed true to themselves. We follow them through murder investigations, adultery, and friendships. I loved this story. It was mysterious and fascinating.

I highly recommend this one for anyone interested in historical fiction with a dash of magic and mystery mixed in.

Thank you to @netgalley and @harperaudio for my audiobook! Get your copy on March 2nd!

* My kiddos made these calming bottles and I love how they turned out! You can flip them over and watch the sequins and beads slowly move through the bottle. The one kid who really needs a calming bottle is the one kid who refused to make one 🤦🏼‍♀️

🧪🍷🥀

#audiobooks #audiobookstagram #audiobookreviews #audiobookrecommendations #bookrecommendations #bookreviews #gifted #arc #thelostapothecary #netgalley #sarahpennerauthor #momsofinstagram #momswhoread #yyc

The Lost Apothecary is a dual timeline novel that takes place in 1791 and present-day London. It’s an unusual combination of history, murder mystery, and female empowerment. Women in 18th century London had a very limited rights, yet some possessed an extraordinary knowledge of curative potions that could save or kill as needed. One woman with such knowledge decided that her medicinal knowledge would only be used to aid women in order to improve their lives. With one single potion, the intent of healing became something else.
A great story worth reading.

I've always been enthralled by the idea of apothecary shops - mixing plants and herbs and making potions and elixirs, both good and bad, in beautiful glass jars and vials. The whole idea is just charming to me and The Lost Apothecary brought this to life. Told in past and present timelines, the reader gets to know Nella and her secret apothecary, as well as Caroline and her obsession to find the truth. I found Nella and her shop to be fascinating. What began as we well-meaning place to help women and their ailments, her apothecary quickly turned into a dark secret to help women who seek to kill. This role reversal begins to make sense as we learn about Nella's heartbreaking past. Caroline's present-day search to uncover the truth is thrilling. While I didn't love the marital demise aspect of the story, I understand that it was the driving force that landed Caroline in London and ultimately motivated her to begin a new life. I just prefer a happy love story for everybody. In all, this was a wickedly fun read that made it hard to believe this is Sarah's debut!

The Lost Apothecary ✨

I loved this book💜 Sarah Penner has written a beautiful debut novel. Thanks to @harperaudio and @netgalley for the arc for an honest review.

London 1791, Nella is an apothecary. She has taken over her mother’s shop after her death but now instead of healing, Nella dispenses poisons to help women “take care of” the men in their lives who have wronged them. She has rules though. She never agrees to use poison to hurt women and she diligently keeps a record of the clients in her ledger.

Eliza, age 12, is a lady’s maid for Mrs Amwell and is sent to procure a poison for her to give to Mr Amwell. During this trip, she befriends Nella and this friendship will change the course of Nellas life.

In the present day, Caroline has arrived in London for her 10 year anniversary. But she took the trip alone after finding out her husband has been having an affair. On a whim she goes mudlarking and finds an old glass bottle in the Thames River. She is a budding historian and sets out to find out the history of the bottle.

I listened to the audio and it was really great. I loved the accents and the dual perspectives were not muddled or confusing at all. I enjoyed the writing and the characters were great, except for James, Caroline’s husband. I recommend to historical fiction fans.

If there is a meaning to this book I haven’t found it yet. I was hooked by the gorgeous cover and the fascinating blurb, but unfortunately the book itself didn’t deliver. Now that’s not to say the writing was bad etc, it’s just that I personally didn’t sync with the writing, the story or the pace. Overall I struggled with the characters, and the plot. I’m at 66% of the audiobook and I have lost interest to go on. Maybe the narration missed the point for me, I couldn’t differ between the two timelines, both main characters sounded the same to me, although one was supposed to be a child. But I feel it's mainly the plot that just failed to pull me in. At this point it has become a chore to go on.

This was in three points of view - in 1791 Nella and Eliza and present day Caroline.
Nella, an apothecary who dispenses poisons to help women free themselves from abusive, lascivious men.
Eliza is a twelve year old who needs to buy some poison for her mistress .
Caroline married to a successful man, she discovers his infidelity and goes on a holiday to London they had planned, alone, for their tenth wedding anniversary (I felt her heartbreak all the way over here). She finds a small bottle while mudlarking (I used to do this in a Lake in the summers but I looked more like I was a mess. I found an old coke bottle but always searched for something like this) and started researching what the bear engraving on it is and the mystery of a letter she had found on the internet that seemed to connect to it.
This research project unlocks a long held drive to discover the history of where and who and what the people of the past were.
She discovers so much about herself while alone even though her husband shows up unannounced and acts like a fool to win her back and in the end makes the decision easier for her. Her long held dreams that she discarded for him, she is putting first. I liked that in her research she made a friend at the library that supported her in her decisions to follow her original career plans that would bring her back to England.
There were a lot of bad men in this book which is true there are a lot of bad men mixed in with the good but there are bad women or mislead women. Like Nella she didn't realize that she was the other woman but the other women mentioned knew they were the mistresses and therefore causing another woman misery.
My question that I have with all infidelity in relationships in and out of wedlock: Why can't you just let the first party go before you start a new relationship or if you see that you are wanting to start a new relationship? If the answer is you don't want to hurt them the hurt is a million fold if it is from cheating than if it's from being dumped. The betrayal causes women to go into poison making, that's one scenario. (I know this is historical and divorces were not common or would cause more trouble than a mistress but it's just a thought I always have)
I like to think that in the last letter that the person Eliza is referring to is Nella and she acted as a mother to her and Nella got the daughter she dreamed of. But I like to make happy endings out of cryptic, vagueness, it's the optimist in me.
This story moved from Caroline finding a clue then the clue being played out in the 1791 present in all its detail. I really like this kind of storytelling format. This book is also set in February.

Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

Thank you #netgalley and #harperaudio for the e-ARC for the honest and voluntary review.

* I received an arc in exchange for an honest review.**
This book runs in two timelines. First, is in the 1700’s and is told by an apothecary who operates in secret. She assists women who need help by making potions and poisons to use against men in their lives. Her one strict rule is that she will not harm other women.
The second character in the 1700’s is a 12 year old housemaid to a wealthy woman who is sent to buy such a potion for her mistress.
In the current timeline, we have a woman who has just found out her husband is cheating on her. She discovers that she had thrown away many parts of herself and the discovery of a mysterious apothecary bottle from way in the past shakes up her wants.
The book is well written and the two stories are woven together in an interesting way. I was fascinated by the thought of a woman working in a hidden space who was assisting women in bad circumstances with tinctures and poisons.
Although I liked the story, it didn’t tip into something I loved. Of course, that is mostly a personal preference.

What an original well designed plot. The audio version pulled me in to both past and present story lines. I enjoyed both equally. Love stories of strong female characters and both of these ladies made me cheer them along their journeys!!! Truly a fun book way to fold laundry and put away groceries!! I didn’t want it to end!!

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

5🌟 ARC... To be published yet in 2021.
Expand Your Horizons 2021: Read A Book With A Beautiful Cover 😍

Debut author Sarah Penner seamlessly executed a 3 POV time-slip narrative hundreds of years apart. An trained Apothecary who also provides poisons is befriended by a 12 year old house girl looking to apprentice after her Mistress is intentionally widowed and takes leave in the weeks following her husband's death. Told from both their perspectives in the 1700s and in a modern day setting where a recently scorned married woman finds one of the apothecary bottles in the River Taymes. Everything you think, as a reader, you figured out is wrong and with surprises and connections around every corner this is definitely going to be a top read of the year for me. I can't wait for it to be published and on shelves to people to find. The cover drew me in but the story had me enraptured and I know everyone will agree. Many awards are sure to find this debut title. Sarah- don't stop writing, I beg of you!

Thanks to the fine folks at Park Row Books/Harper Collins this was a combination listen and read book. I've done this a couple times, its great for getting a real sense of the voices through the audio and curling up on the couch for a read rounds it off nicely.

Debut author, Sarah Penner has written this dual time period story told through 3 different narratives, two in the past and one present day. Naturally I was drawn to the past for its mystery and history. I loved listening to Nella tell her story on the audio, the narrator had a dark edgy tone that had me visualising probably more then what was written - does that make sense? Definitely the audio for the past worked nicely.

The present day story was interesting enough, mud larking was a new term for me and now I want to go to England and mud lark, searching for lost treasures. It was an interesting thread, I liked Caroline's drive and watching her transition but it was the past that keep me reading.

The Lost Apothecary is a story of herbs, while usually to heal this time it's the opposite. Getting to know Nella through her past answered the question of why she does what she does. The friendship with Eliza and ramifications turned this into a story of survival with some suspense and sacrifice.

A solid debut that I highly recommend.

Both the audio and ebook were provided by publisher (via Netgalley) in exchange
for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

I was completely blown away by the voice actor for Nella. It was a haunting voice that stayed with me far after the story concluded. The pain, desperation, hurt and disillusion that I could feel in it was gripping.

Now to the story:

It's a story that carries two time lines, one in the past and another in the present. Each present step leads to an explanation of the past where Nella and Eliza tell their story, with Caroline finding fragments of them in the present. It's a present day mystery with crimes of the past.

Nella and Eliza's story were the most intriguing and page turning. They carried the book throughout and kept me wanting to read more. Caroline's story falls a bit flat compared to theirs and did make it a little harder to hear those parts. The story isn't as predictable as I had assumed at the start, the ending chapters taking a turn I hadn't expected. The ending is something many may not enjoy, through it was surprisingly enjoyable to me.

All in all it was a solid read, however I would have enjoyed a little more injection in the present time line. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.