I enjoyed this story. That being said I was left wanting more. This was a great audiobook to listen to while cooking or lightly teleworking. However, it did not keep my attention enough to just sit and listen. I wish the author had gone further into the historical aspects of the book - whether including more details about apothecary shops in the late 1700s, building out the discussion on historic maps and cartography, or getting into the nitty-gritty of the lethal doses of non-lethal materials. I tend to enjoy when historical fiction allows a fictional story and characters to deliver a more academic lesson on something related - even with the use of tangents to get into detailed information. This story didn't quite do that and really just scratched the surface of the research. Overall, the story was interesting and I enjoyed it - but I wish the historical aspects were more deeply explored.

The Lost Apothecary slowly drew me in. Told from the three different viewpoints of three very different female voices, the narrators brought together these three with their completely different lives and showed that they were really extremely similar. It's always sad to think of how far and yet not so far women and girls have come in a few hundred years. Sure, there's no apothecary to help us kill a dishonest or predatory man in our lives, but that dynamic hasn't changed as much as we'd like to think.

In 1791 Nella makes all kinds of potions and ointments and things to help women. Some are more sinister than others. She has a reputation and a small hidden room for her poisons. A ledger lists those men who have died by her recipes. Men only. She has her rules and she has her reasons. She is surprised when a 12 year old girl comes into that little back room. Their lives become more entwined than she plans.

The girl, Eliza, comes for her mistress. She doesn't really understand the reasons for her boss to want her own husband dead. At the same time, it doesn't seem important to her either way. Eliza is drawn to Nella and all of her ways. Fascination and fear bring her back on the night a woman comes in and asks Nella to do what she has sworn never to do.

In the good old present day, Caroline is visiting London alone. Recently finding her husband to be unfaithful, she takes the trip they planned together on her own. She learns about the apothecary in a positively Victorian way and she finds herself caught up in a search for a centuries old serial killer.

The story weaves back and forth between the two times and the three narrators in a way that I became fully engrossed and invested in each one. You know that feeling when you are reading the story line of one character and the author stops and throws you into another? You get upset. You really wanted to continue with that character. And then you become equally engrossed in the next chapter. A lot of authors try this. The good ones pull it off. This was one of the good ones. I wanted everything for every one of these characters. I could strangely connect with them all.

About a third of the way through, I felt myself not wanting to stop listening. The story really picked up and the tension kept mounting for every character. I'd become attached to the characters and the voices I was hearing detail their lives. The narrators seemed perfectly chosen for these characters.

Anyone who loves a good mystery with strong female leads, pick this up. After listening, I went and bought a hard copy. Thank you to Netgalley, Sarah Penner, and Harlequin Audio for this advanced audio copy.

This debut did not disappoint. Multiple timelines, intrigue and characters you absolutely adore, this has all the ingredients of the perfect historical fiction story. I’ll be recommending this to friends as it’s something I think most readers would enjoy.

As far as historical fictions go, I do not have a great track record. However, "The Lost Apothecary," by Sarah Penner, really hooked me.

This book follows three women on their respective journeys: Nella, the owner of the Apothecary - a strong female who vows to never use her poisons to harm another woman. Eliza - the 12 year old girl who craves more knowledge after being sent to obtain poison for her mistress. And finally, Caroline - the history buff working through her own journey in the present time.

As Caroline visits London to escape her life in the States, she unintentionally falls into the story of Nella and Eliza, slowly uncovering their past as the novel progresses. The intertwining story of these three ladies is seamless. I loved learning about Eliza and Nella in their words, and then further putting more pieces into their story through the eyes of Caroline.

This was a really fun listen and that cover art! So beautiful.

The Lost Apothecary follows two storylines with 3 narrators - Nella and Eliza’s story in the 1800s and Caroline’s story in present day. Caroline is on her 10th wedding anniversary trip in London, alone, when she finds a tiny vial and digs deeper into its history. This is where Caroline’s story weaves with Nella and Eliza’s.

I truly loved the idea of this story and thoroughly enjoyed Eliza’s narration. I also liked Gaynor and thought she was an exceptional friend (maybe a little too exceptional). However, this book fell flat for me.

Caroline really got on my nerves. Her constant secret keeping and her comparison of the small crime she committed to MURDER drove me up the wall. And don’t get me started on her husband.

Thank you, Netgalley, for this ARC.

Thank you #netgallery. I loved this book. Different than my usual read. I loved the back and forth between the time lines. Great story in both.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of its publication.

What can I say about this book without spoiling it? I LOVED it! I have a mayor in chemistry which made me interested in this book due to the word "apothecary" and you may think it doesn't make sense but apothecary leads to potions which leads to mix weird things which leads to chemistry hahaha. The audiobook was so good, the only thing was that the narrators talked a little too slow for me BUT that is a personal preference since I'm used to talk really quickly. But the full cast for this story made it 100% more real and enjoyable. Reading how the life of three females and their choices relates to the other was something I really enjoyed. The mystery behind it, including the deaths or ALMOST deaths gave the book even more dark aspects.

I could see how much the author researched to get this story to make sense and be factual in many ways. How the females made their decision not only thinking in themselves but in others sometimes, made it feel real and raw. The growth in the characters was fantastic and the care the author had with the details, impeccable. The writing style of this author is so good I can't wait to pick something else from her and I can't wait to have a finish copy of this book in my hands.

I don't know what else to say since I might spoil things but I would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction with a bit of mystery.

I rarely read historical fiction, but was glad to be able to listen to this one. I was captivated by the story of all the main characters: Caroline, Nella, and Eliza. All three had important roles in each other's lives, even though Nella and Eliza live in 1971 and Caroline in the present. Nella and Eliza's story is about two women being there for one another in their trying times, Nella with her knowledge of herbology and Eliza with her curiosity. Caroline is realizing that what she considers "happy" has not fulfilled her, and it's re-evaluating her priorities. Both share how women are rebelling against society's expectations and perceptions. Narrators, Lorna Bennett; Lauren Anthony; Lauren Irwin help give this woman voice, adding to the story.


Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin - Trade Publishing, and Sarah Penner for this ARC.

Based on the description of the book I was expecting a much darker and intense read. Sadly this book didn’t deliver in that aspect at all. This book did take me a while to get into and I almost tapped out, but the narration was really good. If you do read this book don’t anticipate a dark twisted read. At times I felt like I was listen a women’s fiction novel when it came to Caroline’s point of view. I would have loved more from Eliza’s point of view considering everything she went through.

The Lost Apothecary – Sarah Penner

*I was given an advanced copy of the audiobook of this novel in exchange for my honest review. *
When I read the synopsis of this novel, I was already sure that I would like this book a lot. What I didn’t expect was to cry and get goosebumps many times throughout the whole book. What an absolute gem this book was! From start to finish I was completely hooked and didn’t want to stop listening. The story followed 3 people: Nella, Eliza, and Caroline. The coolest thing about the audio book specifically is that three narrators read each person. Thank you Sarah for allowing me to have early access to this book, I will be buying a copy of the book for my shelf as it is so beautiful!

5/5 stars

I loved everything about this books. So much I just got the released physical book. Hands one gonna be one of my favorite books this year! Loved this! Thank you!

I really really loved this book. The narration was so good! I loved the different voices for the characters.

This is a mystery from 1791 solved in present day. Nella is an apothecary, Eliza is the 12yr old to get the potion from Nella and Caroline is the present day amateur sleuth. I like hearing the point of views from 3 different people. The characters are so well written and you just fall in love with them. It's unbelievable that this is a debut novel. It's gonna be book of the year, i bet. This book lives up to the hype. Everyone will love this book, no matter what genre is liked most.

This was a super easy listen. It moves at a clip, it's interesting right off the bat, and it's not at all difficult to keep the timelines or perspectives straight.

I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity that more of the apothecary's life wasn't explored, and would 100% consume a book explicitly about 18th century England from her perspective.

The resolution between Caroline and her garbage husband was good. I'm sad that she wasted so much of her life on him.

This is Sarah Penner's debut novel and it kind of shows, but in the way that makes me excited to read more of her work in the future. She's got big Kate Morton vibes.

The narrators of the audiobook were Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony, Lauren Irwin. I don't have any idea who voiced whom, but all of them were very good. The narrator for Nella spoke incredibly slowly sometimes, but that's not terrible, and the narrator for Caroline has an excellent grasp of accents.

You will be required to suspend your disbelief for a while while reading, but it's totally worth it in the end.

I received a copy of this audiobook for free from NetGalley and Harper Audio in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is a debut novel that includes two timelines. The past timeline focuses on an apothecary woman named Nella who creates poisons for women who want to kill their abusive or adulterous husbands, in addition to making remedies that help women's medical issues. In the present timeline, a woman named Caroline flies to London for what is supposed to be an anniversary trip, but ends up traveling alone after finding out her husband cheated on her. She goes mudlarking in the Thames and finds a vial which leads her to research the apothecary. The stories eventually come together.

Overall, I really liked this story. In the beginning, I was definitely favoring the past timeline and was less interested in Caroline but as the story proceeded, I became interested in them both. Both women have been wronged by the men in their life. The character development was really well fleshed out, especially for a debut novel. There is a little twist at the end which I found enjoyable and did not anticipate. I listened to the audiobook which was well done and I would recommend it. I gave it 4 stars.

This book comes out March 2, 2021. Thanks to Netgalley for an early audio proof.

Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I first requested a copy of this audiobook because of it's beautiful cover. I love it, the colors and flowers are just so pretty. But , I didn't listen for too long.... I didn't take it seriously. And readers , let me tell you... you NEED to take this book seriously. It was so well done to tie the past story of an apothecary and a current historian together , it was flawless. I found the story flowed back and forth without a bump and I couldn't wait to get back to the other POV. The story jumps between Nella, an apothecary shop owner in the 18th century and Caroline a Historian on a vacation in modern London. Caroline goes on a London tour and comes across a glass container from the past... soon she is chasing history to learn about a hidden apothecary and the woman behind it.
The Narration was excellent as well, adding to the feel of England with authentic sounding accents.
If you are a fan of Sherlock and stories set in London , this book is for you. The author did a fantastic job of painting both past and modern London in the story. Recommended for fans of Historical Fiction with a touch of Mystery.

This was a very well done dual time line historical novel. I actually loved both timelines which is rare for me. I absolutely loved following Caroline while she solved the mystery of the Apothecary. I could have done without the little pregnancy storyline but that was minor so it didn't take too much away from the story line. Overall this was a really great work of historical fiction. It had a dark atmosphere that was well captured and characters you wanted to root for. I loved all the details of the poisons and how they were made. These parts really wanted to make me look further into ancient apothecaries and poisons. The narrators for the audiobook did a really great job with the characters and I really enjoyed listening to the story. I definitely recommend this one!

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Narrated by: Lorna Bennett; Lauren Anthony; Lauren Irwin
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Description from NetGalley...
“Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.”
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Thank you to @NetGalley @harper.audio @harlequin_audio for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
The description really got me interested, along with that great cover. I was really hoping this would be a good one. The audiobook was okay. The story started out strong, but then it just fizzled out. It had a few things that held my interest, but they were all in the storyline of Nella in eighteenth-century London. The idea of a secret group of women, knowingly procuring poison for revenge was interesting. But, Caroline’s storyline was a distraction and it wasn’t interesting. That’s just me. I would have preferred it to have focused on Nella’s timeline.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

I loved this book - the story of Nella just sucked me right in. An apothecary for women's ailments, but also for murder of troublesome men. There are 3 main characters and the story is told between them, but also over a dual timeline. It is brilliantly told. The narrators were also perfect - one for each of the main characters; which really helps the listener keep track of who is sharing their story at the moment.

What a darling novel that mixes history and lore with modernity — I loved the theme of female friendship!

The story takes place in two completely different eras. The modern day timeline follows Caroline from the Midwest who’s visiting London as her marriage falls apart. She finds an old apothecary vial and — maybe because it distracts her from the pain her husband’s affair has caused — she’s determined to find its origin. The other timeline is in the 18th century and we have Nella — who runs a secret apothecary and makes poisons only for women who plan to use them only on men — and Eliza, her 12-year-old wannabe apprentice.

The first half of the book was all about the three character developments, but the second half is a total ride! I was on the edge of my seat!

I enjoyed all the three narrators and thought they did a great job with each character they represented.