Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Lost Apothecary is a gripping dual‑timeline novel that weaves together stories from 18th-century London and the present day.

• In 1791, Nella, a secretive apothecary, runs a hidden shop down a dark alley. Once a respected healer, she now dispenses disguised poisons to women who want to free themselves from abusive or controlling men — but she sets strict rules:

  1. The poisons are never to harm another woman.

  2. She keeps a detailed register, recording the names of both the woman who buys the potion and the man who is the target.

• When her newest customer turns out to be a bright 12-year-old girl named Eliza Fanning, a bond forms between them, setting off dangerous ripples in Nella’s world.

• In modern-day London, Caroline Parcewell, an aspiring historian, is recovering from the betrayal of her husband’s infidelity. During a solo trip, she finds an old apothecary vial in the River Thames, which leads her into a web of secrets connected to the unsolved “apothecary murders.”

• As Caroline digs deeper, her life begins to intersect with Nella’s and Eliza’s, in unexpected and dangerous ways.

The novel explores themes of female empowerment, revenge, and the strength of a sisterhood that transcends time