Release Date: March 2nd, 2021

Genre(s): Adult Ficiton, Historical Fiction

Publisher: Harper Audio/Park Row

Pages: 320

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

The Lost Apothecary follows two timelines; the first is in London, 1791 following an apothecary shop owner who dispenses poisons to women to give to men who have wronged them. The second timeline follows a woman who traveled to London in the present day after the discovery of her husband’s infidelity and discovers an old apothecary vial.

Review

I discovered The Lost Apothecary while browsing 2021 releases, and I loved the concept of a late 1700’s apothecary created to help women. Historical fiction is not something that I pick up often, but when I do, it’s eras like these that capture my interest the most. And while I loved the older timeline featuring Nella and Eliza, I didn’t like the modern-day Caroline’s POV nearly as much. 

A common format in historical fiction novels I’ve been noticing lately is dual-timeline perspectives as used in books like The Lost Apothecary, where the characters in both timelines share some type of connection. I enjoy this concept personally, especially when both characters live drastically different lives, yet lived in the same place. The exploration of this can be really interesting if done well. And while this definitely was explored in The Lost Apothecary, I felt like both perspectives weren’t different enough. From early on in the novel, I felt like the old timeline was making Caroline’s story a little too predictable. This was to the point that I was absolutely frustrated with Caroline when it feels like the obvious happens to her, but only because something very similar happened in the old timeline right before that. 

Caroline aside, I really liked the story behind the apothecary and found myself immersed in learning what would happen next. The characters in these portions of the story were very interesting as well, and despite some of the unlikeable ones, I looked forward to spending more time with them. Both timelines also focus on topics like infidelity and miscarriage, and how these women have coped over the years. I appreciated those conversations being had throughout the book.

I listened to the audiobook version of The Lost Apothecary, and really enjoyed the narration. The book features three narrators, one for each of the main characters’ perspectives. 

While I didn’t find myself loving Caroline’s POV as much, The Lost Apothecary still made for a very interesting historical fiction novel. I definitely enjoyed the historical timeline in this book and would recommend it more to those that prefer to read dual-timeline historical fiction novels in particular. 

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