The Narration: I really enjoy it when there are multiple narrators for multiple POVs. The three narrators did an excellent job voicing the characters. I did find the narrators spoke at different volume levels, which had me turning the volume up and down while I was listening. It would be helpful if the volume levels were normalized in the final audiobook.

The Story: This book had so many elements that I enjoyed: a historical mystery, dual timelines, and London! My favorite was Caroline’s modern storyline. She is at a crossroads in her life and is reawakening to the possible paths her life can take.

With the characters of Eliza and Nella, there were elements missing in their characters. I don’t feel like I got to know them well enough to like them as much as Caroline.

The mystery that Caroline discovers and embarks on research to solve was a highlight of the plot for me. I could have listened many more hours about Caroline investigating this mystery. The ending had a nice twist and left me hoping for a book two.

I felt like there were details in both timelines that were missing that could have made the story better. This is possibly a personal preference, but I wanted more discussion of Caroline’s map and building research. Maybe I just wanted it to be more of a challenge to solve that part of the mystery. I would have liked to hear more about Eliza and Nella’s backstory. I also wanted to hear more about Caroline and Eliza’s future.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy multi-POV historical fiction set in London.

4.5/5

4.5⭐
Oh man I really enjoyed this historical mystery!! I had no idea what to expect going into this book. The cover and synopsis immediately intrigued me and knew this was something that I needed to give a read. But I wasn't expecting to be as swept away into this story as I was.
This is told in dual timelines - in 1791 London at secret apothecary and present day following a woman struggling in her marriage. I love dual timeline stories but oftentimes one timeline is stronger than the other. But in this case I was equally invested in both timelines! I loved how the two timelines played off each other and we got to see Caroline learn and deduce things we as a reader learned in the past chapters.
I loved the grey morality and feminist themes throughout this book. I loved the characters, the writing, and the audiobook narration was absolutely fantastic. All in all I can't recommend this book enough! It was a seriously immersive experience and I 'm still thinking about this story a month later. I can't wait to read more from Sarah Penner in the future!

Review live on blog 2/10 at 9am!

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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This book debut is my most anticipated read for the first quarter of 2021. I was very pleased and overjoyed when it came available at NetGalley. I was flying through the story. It hooked me from the very start. I immediately connected with the characters; Nella the apothecary owner, and her wanna be apprentice Eliza Fanning and the current day aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell who will unravel their burried stories from centuries ago which led to her greatest adventure in life while trying to find her space and assess her place in a soon to end ten-year marriage.
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This story has ticked all the check boxes of my all time favorite reads. Girl Power, murder, history, relationships and of course, magic-in all its forms all packaged in a beautiful writing. I truly adore female characters that were making their existence worth living and standing their ground with every little feminine power they have, one way or another. From finding their purpose, accommodating desires of their hearts, mending and healing their own wounds and of others’ with all their capacities, competence and strength.
The apothecary recipe makes me want to have my own little room of jars and bottles containing magical properties. The excitement in discovering places through ancient maps in a library as Caroline had also made me wish to travel more and do the same. I was moved and empowered by the friendships that these characters have.
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I have listened to the audio version of this book, thanks to #Netgalley and #harperaudio for the advance readers copy. I have pre-ordered my finished printed copy as it is very deserving to earn a spot on my shelf. I can see myself reading this again and again sometime. I mean, how can I not, that gorgeous cover is spectacular. Lastly, a huge shout out and well wishes to Sarah Penner for a dazzling and impressive debut!

I loved this book! As someone who has spent a lot of time studying genealogy, I was able to appreciate the excitement of discovering things from the past. The joys and frustrations of working to solve a mystery.

In the present, a woman works to discover the story behind a found vial. In the past, the story of the people and the places linked to that vial.

I listened to this as an audiobook and it was so well narrated. I would definitely recommend!

I really liked the narration in this one and it had a very unique premise, but it ultimately fell flat for me. The present day timeline just lacked the spark that it needed to really make the story stand out. I adored Eliza from the past timeline and was rooting for her and liked the glimpse of how her life turned out in the end. Overall though, I was left underwhelmed.

(4.5 stars) This book sucked me in and had the witchy and feminist vibes that I love. The Last Apothecary has a dual timeline, one in the 1700s and one in present day. The tones were different enough that it wasn’t confusing at all. Also, give me a revenge plot about a woman making poisons to kill men who deserve it...ANY DAY. Definitely will need to get a physical copy of this when it comes out in March!

I really enjoyed this audiobook written by Sarah Penner and narrated by Lorna Bennet, Lauren Anthony and Lauren Irwin. The story is set in two different time periods in London. In the late 1700s, a woman named Nella dispenses potions and herbs to women who need help - getting rid of their husbands. She is apprenticed (without being asked) by a young 12 year old girl named Eliza, who is helping her mistress get rid of her husband. In present day, a woman named Caroline is visiting London on what was supposed to be her 10 year anniversary, but she had recently found out he was cheating on her so she goes to London alone. Caroline stumbles across a vial containing a potion, and starts doing some research to find out where it came from.

I love how the story went back and forth between the two time periods. The author and narrators did a great job in keeping the story flowing and interesting. And I loved the ending of the story too - a different kind of happily ever after, but I think probably a more self-empowering and realistic ending.

<i>I received an ARC of this book from the author and publisher (Harper Audio and Harlequin Audio) via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Well written and interesting dual POV story about a 1700’s woman named Nelle who owns and runs an apothecary shop that has a secret room that she sells potions and tinctures to deal with problems with the men in their lives. There’s also Eliza, who was sent by her mistress to get a poison to kill her cheating husband and becomes enthralled by Nelle and the shop and what she can do with her potions. As time goes by, Eliza wants to be more like Nelle and starts to learn her ways.
Then, in the present day timeline, is Caroline, who’s visiting London for what should have been her 10th anniversary trip, but she found out before she left that her husband had cheated so she went alone to try and sort out her thoughts. While she’s there, she finds an ancient vial and as she starts to dig and invest into its history, she finds the hidden door to the apothecary shop that no one has been in for over 200 years.

I enjoyed the 2 different story lines, and the narration was well done. There were 3 different narrators and it really showed at different stages what women will do for themselves especially when they don’t have the best men in their lives.

Thanks to netgalley and Harper/Harlequin audio for this arc in exchange for my review.

I absolutely loved this book! It was exciting, fascinating, beautiful and captivating! 

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is told from the perspective of three different women across two time periods. In eighteenth century London, Nella is an apothecary specializing in helping women but only women who intend to use her well-disguised resources to help themselves and only against men. Nella's friendship with Eliza Fanning, a precocious twelve year old, quickly jeopardizes the fate of Nella's mission. Fast forward to present day, Caroline, who at one time dreamt of becoming a historian, is spending her tenth wedding anniversary alone in London while being forced to confront her own past choices and future decisions. I don't think any description will do this book justice because there is something truly magical about getting lost in the stories of these three women coupled with the fascinating backdrop. This story is a mix of magical realism, historical fiction, strong women, self discovery, and growth. If you're looking for a story with any of these elements then I highly recommend this one! 

Thank you to Netgalley and HARLEQUIN for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

Let me begin by saying that I was drawn to the cover of this book and I do not usually read this genre. I also rarely read a book that moves back and forth through time, but the author made it work. Picking up this audiobook turned out to be one of the best decisions. I greatly enjoyed the tale of the 18th century London apothecary interspersed with the modern day aspiring historian.
Nella, the apothecary, has a secret shop which caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women come to her store because they have heard that she can help deal with oppressive men in their lives. She can provide them with an escape through the death of the men in their lives. Nella’s life begins to change when a new patron sends a 12-year old girl to make the purchase. A domino effect begins with this transaction that will have dire consequences.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone. She has just made the discovery that her husband is not the man that she thinks he is or that her marriage is as wonderful as she believed. While exploring London she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago. She pushes aside thinking about how her life is falling apart and begins to further investigate the mysterious murder.
The book does an excellent job interlacing the past with the present. Readers become invested in Nella’s and Caroline’s life. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed reading Paula Brackston’s The Witch’s Daughter or That Summer by Lauren Willig. I listened to this title as an audiobook and the narrators Lorna Bennet, Lauren Anthony, and Lauren Irwin did an excellent job bringing the characters to life. In addition, each voice was distinctive enough that it was very easy to differentiate the characters which I find exceedingly helpful.
I was provided a copy of this book by Harlequin thr0ugh NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel by Sarah Penner reeled me in right away. I was especially intrigued by Caroline's story of mudlarking in London. Apparently this is done when the river Thames is low and basically people can walk in the mud and search for items that are in the mud. I had never heard of this and it sounds very interesting. Caroline finds a small vial in the mud and her efforts to find out more about it is the story that takes place in the present day. There are two timelines going on in this book, with the other taking place in the 1700's. Nella is the main character in this era, and Eliza becomes a key character as well. Nella is the apothecary of which the book is named. She makes potions for women to use on men that have wronged them. Eliza is a twelve year old girl that is sent by her employer to pick up a potion to be used on her husband who had made sexual advances on Eliza. Caroline finds herself in London on a trip which was supposed to be celebratory of her 10th wedding anniversary, but she had found out that her husband was cheating on her right before they were scheduled to leave on the trip and she winds up going alone.
I listened to the audiobook and the narration by Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony and Lauren Irwin was excellent. Both storylines were equally appealing and I remained interested in both stories. Although Nella was extremely dramatic and the grudge that she held against the man, Frederick, that had done her wrong, I found the book to be thoroughly enjoyable, and would like to thank #netgalley and #Harperaudio for the opportunity to preview this book in exchange for an honest review..

Loved The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner! This story is told in dual timelines, present day and 1791, it’s also Eliza, Nella and Caroline’s stories..

Caroline is in London, present day, on her 10 year anniversary trip by herself. While walking by the Thames she discovers a vial and being the budding historian she is, she begins investigating.

Eliza and Nella live in 1791. Nella is an apothecary who helps women poison their abusive or philandering husbands. Though Nella is technically a serial murderer she has a rule: no women must be harmed by her potions. Eliza is a 12 year old who worked for one of Nella’s clients, then became Nella’s apprentice.

Ms. Penner does an excellent job weaving these stories together. I honestly cared about all 3 stories and was excited when Caroline found Nella and Eliza and the apothecary shop!

This story was everything I live in a story: history, London, female empowerment, and mystery. The audio for this was also great and each narrator made their character come to life!

Thank you to #netgalley and #parkrow books for the advanced audiobook for an honest review of #thelostapothecary!

Told from three perspectives, two from 1791 and one from present day. In 1791 there is a female apothecary who inherited an apothecary business from her mother and she has changed the business a bit and her life takes a turn when a young girl, Eliza walks into her shop. Eliza is the second perspective from 1791 as she is sent to get help from the woman she works for from the apothecary and she will set all sorts of things in motion! The present day perspective is Caroline and she has gone a trip that was intended to be an anniversary trip and instead ends up being a solo vacation, but her story is still uplifting as she finds herself and her passion for history when she finds something mysterious in the Thames river.

I love a historical fiction book that has a present storyline where you know the link between the two stories pretty early on in the book. I don't love to have the mystery go on for too long and it overshadow the true story - not the case in this one. The reader quickly knows why Caroline's storyline is in this book and her investigation was fun to follow. I wish I could do what she did in this book and find an artifact and follow it until you uncover truths.

Although I don't love a book where there is marriage strife, especially the cheating husband kind, I could look over it in this one as it didn't take complete center stage, instead for me the story really revolved around Nella the apothecary and the things she did for the women of her time.

What a great historical fiction that took place at a unique moment in time, with a splash of present day to help move the story along. And I found out after finishing, this was a debut, so I am hoping for much more from this author in the future!

I was hooked from the very beginning of the book, I could not believe that this was a debut novel. This book contained all the things I love. Women's struggles through ages, "magical' home remedies, a bit of history, and fun of mudlarking .
The duel timeline made a parallel with the current unfortunate situation in the current time. Highly recomended.

I really enjoyed this dual-timeline story. (The different narrators were excellent and made it very easy to remember which character was narrating.) The thing I loved most was the setting of this story. I want to go to London and become sucked into a mystery like this. The writing was solid. I was really rooting for Caroline with all of her personal life problems.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the advance listen. What an amazing listen. This book had everything. I only had one problem with the audio and that was when Nella was being read. It sounded robotic. But the other two were great. This book had love and loss of love with each character finding their own way and becoming the strong women lurking within.
Other than Nella's narrator the other two did an amazing job.
This book will definitely stay with me for quite some time.
Highly recommend!!! A strong ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Having had the opportunity to read and review the ebook version of The Lost Apothecary, I jumped at the chance to give it a listen as well. Everything I loved about the book was just amplified by the audio version. The three narrators did a fabulous job of making the three main characters come to life. Listening to Nella as she tells her story and gets to know Eliza just adds to her personality and the mental picture I have of her in my head. I love everything about this story and really want more. The juxtaposition of alternating chapters between the story of Nella and Eliza in 1791 London and Caroline in present day London works to make both stories and how they intersect compelling. These days, most of my “reading” is done with audiobooks and the narration can really make or break a title. Having had the opportunity to experience both text and narration, I can vouch for the fact that the narrators succeeded in making the story richer by giving voice to each of the three unique women whose stories are told in The Lost Apothecary. I’ll end this review much the way I ended my review of the ebook, with a fervent wish that Sarah Penner is hard at work on a sequel, so I can experience more of the lives of these three extraordinary women from two very different times.

I read this via audiobook and I was HOOKED from the beginning. The voices used in the audiobook are absolutely perfect and helped bring the story to life.

This is a dual timeline book, but one that keeps you interested in both of the timelines. One timeline is set in the 1700’s with Nella, an apothecary owner who uses her shop to help wronged woman kill men. We also have Eliza, a twelve-year-old that comes into the shop and befriends Nella. The other timeline is present day, where Caroline is in London celebrating her 10th anniversary without her husband. While exploring she finds something that is tracked back to Nella’s apothecary shop and she starts investigating and finds it’s linked to unsolved murders.

This is one of the only dual timeline books I have read so far where I was really interested in both of the timelines. I do find the Nella/Eliza timeline just A LITTLE bit more exciting, but that might be because of the wonderful voice actors in the audiobook.

This was such an amazing book with a little bit of a woman empowerment theme going on. The writing was so beautiful and I’m SHOCKED that it’s a debut book. I am so excited for anything Sarah Penner puts out in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio/Harlequin Audio for the ARC. This book is released on March 2nd, 2021 and I suggest you RUN to the bookstore or purchase the audiobook.

This was my first audiobook ever! I very much liked the story line but I think I’d like to read a hard copy. I think the story was very interesting but I just couldn’t focus with the audio. I’ll definitely buy the book when it’s released

Thank you to Harper Audio for granting me complimentary audio ARC access via NetGalley! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

I will be featuring this review on my blog on February 5th, post going live at 6:30am EST. https://www.westveilpublishing.com/?p=5625

The Lost Apothecary tells the stories of three women at pivotal points in their lives, split between the past and the present. In the present, we follow Caroline, an aspiring historian who just discovered her husband's infidelity and decided to take their anniversary trip to London by herself. While there she finds a small bottle in the river that leads her to investigate a centuries-old mystery about an apothecary killer.

In the past, we flip flop between Nella, the aforementioned apothecary, and Eliza, a young client who would rather be an apprentice. Nella, the apothecary, is a woman scorned by a former lover who used her medicines against her. She's never forgotten her lost daughter, born stillborn far too early, and laments that her fertility never returned. Baren, shamed, and alone, she added potions of revenge to the list of treatments she could render to serve the underserved women of London, and this is how she found herself tangled up in the murder that would be her undoing. Eliza is the handmaiden to a well-to-do lady who sends her to Nella's shop to obtain poison for her husband. When the deed is done and Eliza's lady has retreated to a distant family estate under the guise of mourning, Eliza is convinced that her victim's ghost haunts her and wishes to take on new employment anywhere but that house, which is why she returns to the apothecary.

Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony, and Lauren Irwin, the official audiobook narrators, did a fantastic job of bringing this book and its three leading ladies to life. I'm going to go ahead and admit that I didn't notice it was indeed three separate narrators as I was listening, I could easily be convinced it was one narrator with a talent for distinct character voices, but that just demonstrates how well matched these narrators are and how beautifully edited the final audiobook is.

I love the ongoing mystery that Caroline is trying to solve about Nella's life, without knowing her name, prompted only by the tiny bottle she found. We do reach a point where the portions told from Nella and Eliza's points of view in the past have solved all (or most) of the mystery for the reader while Caroline in the present hasn't figured it all out yet, but this is presented in a way (and with enough other things going on) that it doesn't become a point of frustration for the reader.

I did find myself wanting more from the past timeline than we go, but not so much that I didn't enjoy Caroline's parts when they came up. This book has been left open for a potential sequel, and though I have no idea Caroline's research efforts would reveal more about Nella and Eliza than what we get, there's so much more I want to know about those two! I'm fascinated by Nella's medicinal apothecary concoctions, but we're teased that Eliza has found a wealth of information about witchcraft, and I want to know more about that.

I would recommend this book to all lovers of historical or literary fiction, especially those who also enjoy mystery and urban/low fantasy as there are elements of those here, but it would also be a good choice for general readers of women's literature. I'm glad the cover art on this one was so beautiful and eye-catching because I typically don't request ARCs labelled women's fiction, but I'm so glad I found this one!