The Lost Apothecary Collector's Edition: A Novel – A NYT Bestseller Historical Fantasy of Dark Secrets

I read this for a book club and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. I love the dual timeline and narration. The way the author can transport you back in time and then shoot you back into the present without it feeling off or forced was wonderful. The historical aspects and details were beautifully written, the characters were well developed, and I loved hearing the stories of the two FMC and how beautifully they tied in together. I immediately purchased another book from this author and she definitely gained me as a new fan.

The Lost Apothecary is a gorgeously written blend of historical fiction and mystery, laced with themes of betrayal, empowerment, and the quiet resilience of women across centuries. I was completely drawn into Sarah Penner’s dual timelines, each voice distinct, yet deeply connected by the thread of an old vial and a dangerous registry. Nella’s apothecary is darkly fascinating, and the rules she lives by create a moral tension that lingers long after the story ends. I loved the unexpected friendship between Nella and young Eliza; it added warmth and surprise to the darker elements. On the modern side, Caroline’s journey from betrayed wife to independent truth-seeker was satisfying, though I found myself more emotionally pulled by the historical chapters. Penner’s prose is atmospheric without being heavy, and the pacing strikes a thoughtful balance between introspection and suspense. My only reason for not giving it a full five stars is that I wished for a slightly more layered ending, but overall, this was a lush and memorable read. Highly recommended for fans of The Paris Library, The Night Circus, or any story where hidden truths, forgotten women, and a little bit of poison come together in the shadows of history.

This book captivated me from the beginning and I had a hard time putting down. There were multiple unanticipated twist that made me gasp. I highly recommend this book.

Historical fiction is my jam, and The Lost Apothecary definitely falls into that genre. I love books with strong female characters and stories that involve healing and herb lore. This book is fun to read because it interweaves the stories of two women, one in the past and one in the present. Alongside Nella, the herbalist, plying her trade in the late 1700s in London, England, is Caroline, an American, arriving solo to London for a planned ten year anniversary trip after catching her husband cheating on her with a work colleague. Caroline's anger, grief and confusion over her husband's infidelity force her to confront the direction her life has gone and to question if there isn't something more for her to pursue beyond marriage, children, and making herself fit into the spaces that make her husband's pursuits more attainable. She reflects on her love for British history, Victorian authors and their stories, and her unfulfilled dream of attending Cambridge whilst (don't you just love the word "whilst"?) walking through London. As she walks, Caroline is invited to try mudlarking, a tourist activity involving mucking about on the Thames after the tide is out to find odd, old, or valuable bits left behind from the water. As it happens, Caroline does find something rather rare and, thus, begins her journey to discover its origins, the people related to it, and in the midst of all of that, she reignites her passion for history, research, and herself. I enjoyed the other, more minor characters in the story. Alfred, the mudlarking tour guide, and Gaynor, his research librarian daughter, provided bright spots in an otherwise dark story and provided the help Caroline needed to uncover the secrets of Nella's world. The conflict between Caroline and her husband, James, is believable, and it helps to drive the story forward. The twist with the events that happen in the middle of the story and how it ties into Nella's storyline is canny and makes you want to keep reading until the end. I have been anticipating reading this book since I heard about it coming out last fall. This is the author, Sarah Penner's, debut novel, so I had no previous works to check out, but as a herbalist and former practicing holistic healthcare practitioner, stories involving plants as medicine and women cunning enough to use them always capture my attention. It is well known in herbalist circles that almost any healing substance in the wrong dose can be used to hurt. It was all for the better that in this story the herbs being used were to poison men taking advantage of women in a time when women had little to no power at all. Love those strong, wily, feminist characters! Bring it! It was disappointing for me to learn, then, while reading the first few chapters how Nella managed clientele seeking her sinister services -- a setup involving almost no protection of her identity. The story lost a star at this because this part of the plot was too difficult to believe. Additionally, there is young Eliza, a girl, who comes to deliver Nella a request from her employer. Her naiveté regarding her own body and events in the home in which she serves form are difficult to give weight to, and yet, they are the whole basis of why she seeks to remain with Nella. Eliza's reliance on magic to resolve the dilemma at the end was also too much to swallow, and so the story lost another star. Finally, while there were many other interesting characters in the story in Nella's timeline such as Lady Clarence, her maid, Lord Clarence, and Miss Berkwell, these figures were not as fleshed out as they could have been and would have given the story better plausibility. Favorite Excerpt “At this, I stopped in my tracks. A decade ago, in college, I'd graduated with a degree in British history. i'd passed my coursework with decent grades, but I'd always been most interested in what lay outside the textbooks. The dry, formulaic chapters simply didn't interest me as much as the musty, antiquated albums stored in the archives of old buildings, or the digitized images of faded ephemera--playbills, census records, passenger manifest lists--I found online. I could lose myself for hours in these seemingly meaningless documents, while my classmates met at coffee shops to study. I couldn't attribute my unconventional interests to anything specific, I only knew that classroom debates about civil revolution and power-hungry world leaders left me yawning. To me, the allure of history lay in the minutiae of life long ago, the untold secrets of ordinary people." Rating I liked The Lost Apothecary. Aside from the previously mentioned plot hole with Nell's business setup and the issue I had with Eliza, the story has a fun concept with otherwise well-developed main characters and good attention to historical detail. This book is recommended especially for folks who like strong female characters, stories based on the healing arts or herb lore, intrigue, and historical fiction based in London.

I read this book at the recommendation of a friend. I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to discussing it with that friend soon. I liked best two unique aspects of the novel. First, I liked its work to unravel the stories of women in the past. Working family history through genealogical document, I gained an appreciation of how fewer details are recorded for females than males. Historical documents may record a woman only by her married name, or even only by her husband's name. Women in the past often didn't receive automatic guardianship of inherited money or estates; unraveling the mysteries of the stories of these women must start with examining the records of their male relatives who oversaw their finances. The second aspect I liked best about the novel was its focus on the strength of friendship to support women through exceptional life challenges when other forms of support, e.g. from parents or spouses, are insufficient. In this, it reminded me of two films, "4 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days" and "Portrait of a Lady on Fire." I felt the book and these films took a focus that avoids discussion of moral controversies to focus on building understanding of human reactions, different perspectives and motives. Another interesting side of the book was a youthful, innocent viewpoint. This made the reading easier. One thing that made it harder for me was the relative abundance of unsympathetic male characters. I'd recommend the book to friends looking for books unravelling the mysteries of women's historical stories and friendships.

Sarah Penner is a great writer. I had been postponing reading this book because I wanted to enjoy the different romance and contemporary romance novels I had stocked up on, but I eventually decided to dive in. I started reading it in bits and pieces, but yesterday I went on a deep dive—and honestly, this book is such an amazing read. Beyond the obvious themes of loss, betrayal, and trust, this is also a book about friendship. It's about meeting new people and finding oneself, which brings me to the structure and genre itself. This is more than historical fiction—it's a novel of education, a *bildungsroman*. This book is absolutely well-written, and the writer's mind is fertile ground for historical complexities and nuances. As a researcher, I connected deeply with this story. My dissertation focused on finding bits and pieces about the life and works of Reverend J.J. Ransome-Kuti, and I was fascinated by how many parallels I found with my own research journey. Even now, I'm reflecting on what I might have missed. I learned so much from the main character in the present timeline about tracing the past and how our biases can affect how we read history. The dual timeline narrative really helps us see the past—to see history as something alive rather than something stuck in the past. We simply didn't live in those times, but history continues to breathe and influence us. The ending (no spoilers!) shows what one character thinks is like an ending, but I believe it's quite symbolic of how the past continues into the present. The past never dies; it lives on. What one person throws away will be discovered by someone else who will then begin their own research. This book has spoken to me on so many levels and is truly inspiring me not to give up on my research—to be passionate about what I'm doing because my work is important. I'm really grateful for this book.

One of the best books I've ever read ! Once you get used to the switching of characters, you find yourself hooked-- impatient to get back to that character. Towards the end, it is difficult to put down. Can't wait to read her other books. Highly recommend !!

I found this story so interesting because it somehow has been told again and again and again. While I was reading this book, one of my friends said that she had seen a show or something that was about this, and I remember watching a video about a little something called "Aqua Tofana". That aspect to me was so intresting how people who have never met each other come up with similar ideas, I don't mean this in a bad way, It's just so crazy to me how this was also reflected in the book with the various POV's. I think this means that as women we always want to look out for each other no matter the time, place or whatever else and I think that's amazing.

It was a great summer read!! Interesting story that jumped in time from present day back to the past. Interesting characters and circumstances with a few twists!!

The topic was fascinating and the intertwined stories are brilliant, easy read and page turner that makes a lovely beach read

Uygun

This is more than just mystery and history, it is well written with much to keep you going to the end and wishing for more. Sarah Penner has a deft hand at guiding the reader through London, down onto the Thames embankments learning of the Mudlarks and from there into the twisting turning lanes of the old city in the late 1700s. There are two stories and they link in beautifully, never confusing, as the characters cope with their own problems. On the one hand the apothecary helping women with her herbs and tinctures hidden well away from the city around her where no man would find her nor even dream she existed. On the other hand there is Caroline, escaping from the distaster her husband has visited on their marriage by his affair Caroline discovered just days before they were supposed to take the trip from Ohio to London to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Instead she comes alone, upset and deeply angry by his conduct. In London and alone for the first time in her life, as she explores the small vial she discovered she finds that her life was not what she really wanted and so this trip is the beginning of how things might be in the future. Both women have learned from hard experience that men are not always as they thought them to be, and each in her own way discovers that life alone can be rewarding. There is no let up from intrigue, interest, and many a deep and meaningful awareness shared only by the women though separated by over two hundred years. It seems nothing changes and it is through her search for the apothecary that Caroline finds her own way through the life she has led for the past ten years. I was gripped by the book and found it hard to put down. The characters are very real as is the area of London both women found themselves living in. It was hard to finish and I tried my best to delay the ending but - as all good things do, it came to an end and I was immediately looking for more books by Sarah Penning. So far, this is it, and I now wait to see if there are going to be more, for she is surely an imaginative writer with a sense of true tension in her story. If you love a bit of mysterious history and enjoy finding how women, long kept under by men, have had their own ways of dealing with life under their thumbs, then this is for you.