Book review: The Lost Apothecary

Author: Sarah Penner

I have my local book club to thank for my reading this book. Aptly named Reading Between the Wines, we are a group of ladies of a certain age who gather to drink wine (and beer), spend 3.5 hours catching up, and half an hour discussing the book we’ve picked. I totally recommend it!

Like The Last Ship, the last book I reviewed, The Lost Apothecary has a dual timeline. In this story the connection between the two is very clear. Present-day Caroline Parcewell is in London on what is meant to be a 10th anniversary celebration with her husband. But shortly before she left she discovered he has done the dirty on her, so she leaves him in Ohio and heads across the pond alone. On a mudlarking trip by the River Thames she discovers a blue bottle with a bear symbol on.

Cut to the 18th Century and Nella who runs an apothecary near Bear Alley. Having inherited her mother’s general apothecary business, events have led her to niche her offering to that of helping women to dispose of the menfolk in their lives - discreetly and undetectably.

The book follows the unravelling of Nella’s livelihood, and Caroline unravelling the secrets behind the blue bottle she has found.

I enjoyed the book, although the chapters set in the 18th Century resonated more than those in the present day. It was an easy and entertaining read, and I was invested enough in the story to set aside some incredible (in all senses of the word!) occurrences. Some of my book club friends were less forgiving and struggled with the many happy coincidences that appeared. But hey, that’s why it’s fiction, right?

What we ALL agreed on, though, was the inappropriate use of US English for the UK characters. We Brits don’t say “sneakers”, even though we know what they are. And an 18th Century Londoner would certainly never talk about “trash” or use a “block” to describe a group of buildings between two roads. This really should have been picked up by the editor as it really jolted all of us out of the story, and was the first thing we brought up when discussing the book.

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