Sarah Penner’s upcoming novel The Lost Apothecary is a dual-timeline story set in London. In the late 1700s, Nella has turned her apothecary skills to a sideline in poison. She helps women escape from abusive husbands or take revenge on sexual assaulters by carefully blending poisons. As a strange sort of penance or maybe a reminder of when the shop was a respectable herbalists, she records the names of the purchaser, poison type, and intended victim carefully. On one hand, absolute historian’s dream, but on the other, it’s almost like Nella wants to be caught. When a young girl comes on behalf of her mistress, seeking a permanent solution to a handsy employer, she is entranced by Nella’s herbal blends.

Today, Caroline finds herself alone in what should have been her anniversary trip to London. She bumps into a group mudlarking along the Thames, and then happens upon a strange old vial washed up in the mud. This leads her to researching the vial, and discovering more about an old and possibly forgotten apothecary.

This was an intriguing story, with conflict and discovery in both storylines. There were a couple moments that strained credulity, mostly in the coincidences that set the plot in motion and one that gave me an extreme eye-roll (Really? Her notebook flipped open to that page at that exact moment? Sounds fake but ok). Individually, each coincidence works, but as they built up, I started to wonder if Caroline was the descendant of one of the apothecary women, and there was a supernatural force behind her just stumbling onto everything. Then again, the story of finding a cool old artifact and hitting a research dead-end would be a much shorter, less interesting story.

The two timelines connect thematically, with themes of women’s friendship against male-dominated life, although there aren’t direct parallels.  Fans of The Dollhouse, The Lions of Fifth Avenue, and other Fiona Davis novels will enjoy the dual-timeline narrative in The Lost Apothecary.

The Lost Apothecary will be out in March 2021 from Park Row Books. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.