The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner - 5 Stars!

A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to help women who have been betrayed by the men in their lives. She has two rules: 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. On a February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley, Nella awaits her customer. She's surprised when a twelve-year-old girl named Eliza Fanning enters. This unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the women whose names are written in her register. In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s, and not everyone will survive.

This was a powerful and emotional historical fiction story. The author described the setting so well that I felt the cold weather come through the pages and shivered from the description of the Thames River. The characters were so astonishingly real to me that I looked up apothecaries in 18th century London. I always ask myself how the author comes up with these beautifully flawed characters and their stories. It is all a part of the mystery of great fiction. And this story is an example of great fiction. I definitely recommend!