The Lost Apothecary

Everyone’s talking about this book, but I’ve delayed reading it until I knew I’d have time to really settle in. What an incredible debut by Sarah Penner, shooting to the top of all the bestseller charts and getting a movie deal all at the same time! (I can tell you, it should be a spectacular movie!) Sometimes when books get so many rave reviews out of the gate I am hesitant, but I shouldn’t have been in this case. I loved the book. Writing a convincing and important dual time line can be incredibly difficult – really, it’s writing two completely separate stories … that are connected in all the right places – and she did it masterfully. The historical research behind the scenes for The Lost Apothecary must have been incredible, with all the details to learn about ancient herbs and poisons, as well as keeping the cultural history accurate. The book builds to a wonderful, nail-biting finish in both time periods. Highly recommend!