The Lost Apothecary Review – The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is a masterpiece that combines the 18th century with today and gives you so many twists and turns, you are shocked at the outcome and left wondering. When I was sat down writing my The Lost Apothecary Review, the first thing I thought about was my own life and how I wanted to make changes. As you read through my review, you will see why.

I love reading books surrounding Apothecaries so I had to do The Lost Apothecary review and go into why this is such a superb book and one of the best sellers I have read in a very long time.

Perfectly paired with a G&Tea, you will be transported into the Eighteenth century as you sip the delicate gin and tonic. Maybe you are like me and like to sink into a hot bath with Neals Yard Remedies, which was very fitting of this book.

If you are looking for a book that blurs the timeline of the Eighteenth Century to the present day, includes an Apothecary and twists of fate that has you wondering, a book that you simply can’t put down, then The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is the book you need. As we delve into The Lost Apothecary Review, we go into why I loved this, without the spoilers!

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner Review

About the book

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is set in two different timelines that are crossing their paths, Eighteenth Century and the present day. Based in London, this book guides you through the stories of 3 women and how their paths inadvertently cross and intertwine in a way you would never anticipate.

Nella – The herbalist since childhood who uses her Apothecary to sell poisons, but life was never like this. Laying in the back is a dark secret she holds, once a healer, now a poisoner. She only holds 2 rules in her apothecary:
Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

Eliza – A 12-year-old girl that happens to become entwined into the apothecary thanks to her Mistress, she becomes very involved in the life of Nella. But what is she hiding away from?

Caroline – a 30 something American historian who is visiting London in the present day, supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime with her husband, still in the US. Now wandering around London alone, in search of answers to something she finds. But what is it she is really searching for?

The 3 lives are colliding in a way you’d never imagine. An outcome that will absolutely blow your mind!

I can’t ruin this with spoilers, as with all my book reviews, I don’t give much away. Maybe a seed or 2 that will entice you into reading The Lost Apothecary.

About The Quality Of The Book

I love me a hardback book, I prefer them to paperback books and where possible, I will order a hardback version.

The cover of The Lost Apothecary book is bright, captures your attention and has hues of purple, pink and blue with a touch of peach thrown in, flowers and an old apothecary bottle adorns the front cover.

Inside the cover is a beautiful purple hardcover with nothing on the front and the name of the book and author on the side in silver.

The paper inside is unglossed and has a very slight rough texture in an off white shade, this is how I expect all books to come, mostly hardbacks but some have a smooth white paper which I am not as keen on.

I prefer the older style of paper, it creates that all-encompassing feel to a book where I sit down, tune out and get deep into a book, feeling the paper between my fingers as I turn the pages. This is the experience I am looking for.

I’m really impressed by the quality of The Lost Apothecary book overall and is very well made.

The Lost Apothecary Review

If you know me at all, you know I love anything to do with plants, apothecaries and herbalism. I’ve got a very diverse range of books and have books from all genres. But mostly, I love historical books, especially surrounding things like this.

As soon as I could get my hands on a copy of The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, I started reading right away and knew in my heart that within the first chapter, I would be hooked.

I followed each story in The Lost Apothecary, with many questions running through my mind. There are several twists and turns throughout the book I did not anticipate. There were a few gasps, a few ooh’s and plenty of nods.

Now, to my surprise, there was a little element of Witchcraft which absolutely made my day! Not only did I get my fill of herbalism, but I also walked into a small part introducing the element of Witchcraft. Genius!

Finally, I reached the end and followed each story, wondering what would happen and did not expect the ending to happen the way it did. As it was happening, I never imagined the final outcome. I was blown away!

The ending in The Lost Apothecary had me asking more questions, I love a book where there are some things you are wondering. Ending a book with certain things making you think is a great way to engage more with the book. Well, for me anyway. But at the same time, an open ending can really be irritating, but this was not the case at all. It’s so well written, that you are indulged into making your own further analysis of what could happen.

After the story ends in The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, you see information about the herbs which give information on them. As a herbalist, I really appreciated this and it is rare you get this kind of information in a novel. So it really made me smile as I read through each one, appreciating the research that really went into this.

I was left wondering about my life and the goals I had set out many years. Was I really on the right path? I know deep down I am not and I know that after reading this, I have to make the right changes for me.

I’m now open to changing my life and making the apothecary business grow just as I wanted to more than 20 years ago. This has given me the courage to set my goals and smash them. Next year, is going to be insane!

Final Thoughts

If you are interested in Botany/Herbalism, then this book is something I highly recommend reading The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. It’s simple, it’s pure and it has a few twists and turns that will have you asking more questions along the way!

The Lost Apothecary will have you chasing an adventure with Caroline, but also wondering what really happened with Nella and Eliza. This, I really wanted to capture in my The Lost Apothecary Review but not give out any spoilers.

Highly recommend this and should be on the bestseller lists all over! I really couldn’t wait to do The Lost Apothecary Review and only put the book down 12 hours ago.

I’m sure there will not be a book I read in 2021 that will surpass this or my expectations as the bar has been set really high with The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner novel.

The feelings I was left with, the courage to change my life and to hit those goals I have only dreamed about. If a book can really change your life that much, it should be read more than once, even as a reminder.

What do you think, is this a book you could get stuck into? Are you like me and love a good soak and sleep routine and include a good book?

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