Friday, December 26, 2025

The Lost Apothecary

By: Sarah Penner

Libby audiobook 10 hours

Read by: Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony, and Lauren Irwin

Published: 2021

Genre: historical fiction, mystery


I enjoyed this book, but didn't love it deeply. The vocal work was mostly quite good, but the voice of the apothecary was really gruff and scary . . . on purpose? We follow the stories of Nella, apothecary who "helps" women by dispensing poisons to get rid of troublesome men along with other remedies; Caroline, a modern woman who has just discovered her husband's infidelity before their ten year anniversary trip to London; and Eliza, a young servant girl who attaches herself to Nella as an assistant.


I enjoyed the strands of all three women's stories, though I'm not a fan of unfaithful husbands! It was a fascinating trip through history and I was somewhat surprised by the ending. Enjoyable book. Somewhere I have a note I made, so I'll edit this entry when I find it. I liked the symbolism of the blue bottle found while mud larking.

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