Caroline Parcewell arrives in London for what should have been her tenth anniversary celebration with her husband alone, and furious from the discovery of an affair. On her first day, she is invited to mudlark along the Thames, reigniting an interest in historical research that she had put aside when she was married, and the discovery of a small vile sets her on the path to discover more about the apothecary murders from several centuries past.

This book shifts between the past perspectives of Nella, the owner of an apothecary that dispenses poisons for wronged women, and Eliza, a young girl who comes in contact with Nella and the apothecary through a request from Eliza's mistress, and Caroline in present day as she considers what went wrong with her marriage, and what she is discovering about herself through the process of research and investigation.

I very much enjoyed this title - reading most if it in a couple of settings. The historical background, the exploration of power dynamics and intimacy in relationships, and Caroline learning to come to her own throughout all of it, and the revelation of what people may do in order to manipulate a situation. While perhaps what Caroline is able to discover feels a little fantastical - it seems as if historical research is never that simple - it is a wonderful read for those who enjoy historical mysteries, and the notion of researching history, and I will certainly recommend the story to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ This debut author flawlessly goes between 1790’s with Nella, an apothecary, who dispenses remedies and poisons to women in order to help them get out of difficult situations with men and present day with Caroline , an historian, who discovers an apothecary bottle while on a mud larking tour. Caroline is on a solo anniversary London trip, due to her marriage failing. She drawn to further researching the history from the apothecary bottle. Will Caroline be able to discover the truths behind the bottle? Nella and Caroline’s lives both parallel each other with their own troubled lives. This debut novel will not disappoint and will have you turning the pages to discover the truths that will unveil.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me preview this novel and, in return, I am providing a review. A positive review was not required, but I greatly enjoyed this book. I loved the duality of the characters and how the past and the present intertwined without being unbelievable. I also greatly enjoyed the emphasis on female strength and that the characters were not merely fodder or foil for males, regardless of the time period. The thought of preserving female names for posterity hit me hard. I can only imagine how many stories, the fantastical, the ordinary, the intriguing, the bravery, have been lost in the sands of time, simply because they were women. How many of my female ancestors dealt with things that I will never know about because history was written by men. Such a wonderful novel. The way Penner gets into her characters' minds and conveys their feelings and thoughts is nothing short of masterful!

As a librarian with a personal interest in historic research and folk medicine, I absolutely loved this book. Every twist and turn was completely unpredictable, and I tore through it in a day!

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Directly up my alley. I love a good “back and forth in time” story, and the entire tale made me want to get on a plane to London to pursue my own love of history.

This book was a magical experience. I absolutely fell in love with it; it captured my imagination from page one through the very end. I knew this was a five star read as soon as I finished the first chapter. I could not put this down because I needed to find out what happened. I read it every chance I got!
Sarah Penner’s gorgeous writing completely transported me to an atmospheric, thrilling, dark 18th century London. It’s hard to believe that this is her debut novel. We follow the stories of three women: Nella, a mysterious apothecary who’s made it her mission to help the women who society forsakes by selling them poison to get revenge against the men who’ve hurt them. Eliza, a twelve year old servant girl whose curiosity about tinctures and magic lead her to Nella’s hidden shop again and again. And Caroline, a woman who gets tangled up in a historical murder mystery while on a trip to London after learning of her husband’s infidelity on their 10th wedding anniversary.
These three points of view were expertly woven together; none of the characters overshadowed any of the others, and none felt weaker than the others. This book was exactly what I needed right now - it seriously felt like it was written for my interests. It was advertised perfectly; I was worried that the synopsis was too good to be true and that I would be disappointed with the actual execution, but I was so happy to be proven wrong. It has the perfect blend of suspense, action, magic, and relatable characters to root for that left me wanting more. I felt so empowered after finishing this book, and it’s definitely one of my new all-time favorites. The recipes at the end of the book were also a lovely whimsical touch. Sarah Penner is an author to watch!

The Lost Apothecary is a book that I think will fit comfortably in a chick-lit book club.

Women banding together to get rid of abusive men! Women suddenly realizing they are married to the biggest gaslighting jerk on the planet! Women finding friendship when men can't be relied on! And hey, these aren't bad points, but the characters fell flat for me, becoming nothing more than stereotypes.

Penner has created a dual timeline, with the current day Caroline visiting London on her own after discovering her husband's infidelity. She discovers an old bottle while mudlarking which ties us into the past story of Nella, an apothecary who sells poisons to women looking to get rid of lying, cheating men. Eliza is the young girl who becomes involved in Nella's life after Eliza helps her mistress kill the rapey husband. Yea! Girl power!

There's a good degree of artificial angst here when Caroline's manipulative husband shows up trying to save their relationship. Honestly, if the man was this bad, why is she suddenly seeing it all only after ten years? Seriously, Penner gives this man not one redeeming characteristic. And that's my main problem here. Did we need another feminist Aesop's fable? The Lost Apothecary is fine if you're looking for a one-dimensional feel-good quick read, but it's not for me.

The book covers two different time periods - modern day with Caroline, and the 1790's with Nella.

Caroline visits Paris after finding out her husband has had an affair. A trek to the river leads her to find an old apothecary bottle, and she begins to do some research to try and trace the history of this little bottle. Through her investigation, she uncovers the "apothecary murders" and scrambles to learn as much as she can.

Nella runs the little apothecary shop in the 1790's and receives requests from customers for various needs... including poison. She has rules in place that she will never do harm to another woman through her concoctions, but she is tested more than once. Young Eliza also visits the shop and immediately becomes fascinated with everything inside and what it can do.

The story has some suspense built in, and it easily transports you to this tiny apothecary shop and all of the activity within it. A very enjoyable book.

'The Lost Apothecary' is a genuine tale of feminine power, without worrying about trying to make a "Strong Female Character." Instead, apothecary Nella, would-be apprentice Eliza, and historian Caroline are complicated, multi-dimensional women who struggle with moral quandaries and with having their trust broken - by men, yes, but also by other women.

In one era, we have Nella, an apothecary whose bitter past has led her to transform her shop into a secret place for women to acquire poisons, along with young Eliza, who's sent there on a mission from her employer and finds herself intrigued by the world behind the wall. In the modern day, there's Caroline, a would-be historian who's spent years making herself smaller for the sake of her husband, but when she stumbles across evidence of a mystery from centuries past, she starts to find herself again. The character- and world-building are wonderful, immersing the reader fully in this mystery through time.

It's easy to think of this just as a slowly unwinding mystery, but really, it's about the ways women carve out spaces for themselves, whether the world wants them to or not. There's nothing "remarkable" about the setting - there's no war, no court intrigue, no major historical event like many historical fiction books use as a backdrop. In some ways, though, it allows its remarkable women to shine even more.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

This was an engrossing book, it kept me focused and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Most of the time. I"m not a huge fan of dual time lines, and I found myself putting the book down when it came to some timeline changes. But I felt that the history was well done and informative and added a lot to the story.

I highly recommend this book.

I enjoy historical fiction and this made we think of what a women's life must have been like back in the 1700's when women got little to no support through the legal system and other sources. Men made and created the laws to their own advantage. And this is the story how a women used her apothecary to help women avenge their rights.

Interesting twist how she blended a modern day story into the women's life from the late 1700's. I don't often get into a book on the first few pages but this was a fun and easy read.

In 1791, Nella is a London apothecary who has made it her mission to help women get revenge on the men who hurt them. She dispenses poisons and teaches women how to use them to kill the men who have shunned them, raped them, cheated on them, or otherwise done them harm. Caroline is a present-day woman who has come to London for what was supposed to be a 10th anniversary trip with her husband. Unfortunately, she's just found out that he's been cheating on her, so she's on her own, asking big questions about the path of her life. Perhaps, if she'd lived in the 18th century, she would have been one of Nella's clients. Instead, she finds one of Nella's vials while mudlarking by the Thames, and is determined to find out the story behind it.

What follows is a dual tale, tracing Nella's possible downfall as one of her poisons is possibly taken by the wrong person, and Caroline's quest to figure out the mystery of the vial and to make the hard decisions about the rest of her life. Both Nella and Caroline are well-written characters, but their lives, both interior and exterior, weren't sketched out quite fully enough for me to understand some of their motivations. Similarly, some of the evidence that Caroline uncovers about Nella felt much too slender to base some of her conclusions on, and the connection between one conclusion and another often felt tenuous.

Still, both Nella's and Caroline's stories are compelling, and together they create a momentum that propels the book forward quite nicely.

The Lost Apothecary goes back and forth between the lives of Nella and Eliza in 1791 and Caroline in present day London. I was immediately hooked by Nella, the former healer who now uses her knowledge and skills to help women who have been hurt by men. The hidden apothecary, women leaving notes and keeping secrets to protect each other - fascinating! Present-day Caroline was reeling from learning that her husband was not the good guy she thought he was. Her hunt to find answers about the mystery vial she found and her gradual realization that there was something missing in her life drew me in as much as Nella's story.

I loved the historical details of this story and the twist that kept me guessing until the very end about what actually happened to Nella and Eliza. What a fun, engrossing read!

I really enjoyed this book. It is writtten in three voices over time. Two of the voices are from the past, one from the present. The story tells how these individuals met up and crossed paths even after the death of the apothecary and her assistant. I loved that someone from the British Library got involved in the present day part of the story. There were twists and turns, and overall, it was an original and very interesting read.

This was such a great book and it grabbed my attention from the get go! The story is told from past and present POVs; one a female apothecary living in London during the late 18th century and the other an aspiring historian traveling alone from the US to celebrate what should be her wedding anniversary.

The history behind Nella and how she helped liberate women from men who wronged them was so intriguing, and I loved her reason for keeping a record of all the women who came to her—so that they would not be forgotten. Caroline was a great character as well, and it was amazing how a little blue bottle with a bear etched onto it led her back in time to discover who Nella was and what happened to both her and Eliza.

This is one of those stories that, though fictitious, really makes me appreciate history and the stories that lie dormant until someone’s curiosity and perseverance leads them to dig further into the past.

Highly recommend!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3660547681

I couldn’t put down this book! The dual story line this had me gripped from page one till the very end. There’s a perfect balance of mystery, relationships, adventure and historic wonder.

Eliza, Nella and Caroline: three different women, three different storylines that converge in dramatic, can’t put your book down, ways.

The Lost Apothecary starts off in 18th-century London, set along the cobble stone streets of a hidden apothecary shop, where owner Nella creates concoctions for women wishing to fulfill dark desires. As we dive further into the book we’re introduced to Eliza, a spunky, quick-witted 11 year old who seeks to learn Nella’s secrets. Then we jump to present day, where we meet Caroline, an American who is looking for an escape. She jets off to London and finds herself in back in 18th-century London with Nella, Eliza and the unsolved apothecary murders.

What a great, fast-paced, highly enjoyable read!

am guilty. Guilty of judging a book by its cover. But how can I be blamed when the cover is as beautiful as this? This debut novel by Sarah Penner is as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. A story part historical, part suspense and part contemporary just one of my favorites of the year

The characters of Nella, Eliza and Caroline are formidable and spectacular.

This book deserves every accolade and praise. I can’t wait to share it with everyone In March.

Thanks to the publisher for the early read

I appreciate #NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner for an honest review. I couldn't put this book down! Usually when there are multiple stories going on at the same time in a book, I only find one of them really interesting and the other is just okay. Both of the storylines were interesting and I kept reading (way past my bedtime) to see what would happen next. Seriously, you won't be able to put this book down. Caroline visits modern-day London alone, while she should be on a 10-year anniversary trip with her cheating husband. While walking by the River Thames she happens along a mudlarking group. Mudlarking is searching through the river mud at low tide for valuable or interesting items. Caroline finds an old bottle which eventually leads her to Nella. Nella works as an apothecary of sorts in 18th century London. Nella isn't your usual apothecary, she specializes in potions to help women - most often against men who want to harm them. Eliza is a 12 year old girl who visits Nella's shop for her employer and ends up embroiled in Nella's dangerous business. As it turns out, the danger appears to span the centuries, or does it. Caroline, our modern-day girl, is driven to find out who Nella was and what sorts of things she does.

The Lost Apothecary is a story about women forging paths for themselves, independent of men, and reckoning with what they really want out of life. It is hard to believe that The Lost Apothecary is a debut novel. This well-developed story is both fantastic and original. This propulsive book was completely engrossing, and I breezed through it. I also must commend Penner on her solid execution of multiple storylines from three unique voices.

I enjoyed the three main characters and their voices. So many novels with female protagonists center on the men in their lives. Penner did a great job ensuring that this trope was avoided. The only thing I found lacking was more detail and context about the time period (e.g., historical insights and architectural descriptions). I also was not able to really emotionally connect with the story or its characters. Do not mistake me. I did think the characters were fabulous. I just did not feel anything when reading this - a personal requirement for a five star read.

I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend you read it when it is published in March! I think this story will be widely loved. I have already seen it listed as one of the most anticipated books of 2021.