This is going to be my very first book review! This year, one of my goals was to read more books for fun. I’ve always been very good at academic reading, especially when I was in nursing school, which is probably why I didn’t like reading for “fun”. When my anxiety and depression started to peak (let’s be real, I’m still there) I had to brainstorm hobbies I could do for myself. The easiest one was reading! It didn’t take anything but quiet time and a book. So to motivate myself to read, I subscribed to Book of the Month! It’s a monthly subscription for books that are curated for the month! I’ve gotten four books from them so far, and the first one I finished was The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.
It is a historical fiction book that follows the life of three women, Caroline (in present day), Eliza, and Nella (1700s). All of them have been tied to similar life experiences of infidelity, deception, and miscarriage. And all of them go through a string of experiences that altar the way they view their lives and change the course of what’s to come in their future. This book was hard to put down as every chapter in one’s life made you eager to find out the connection between them all.
It is a promise I made to my mother, to preserve the existence of these women whose names would otherwise be erased from history. The world is not kind to us… There are few places for a woman to leave an indelible mark… But this register preserves them - their names, their memories, their worth.”
I marked this quote in the book because it shows the importance of Nella’s registry for her apothecary, whether they were potions for harm for or healing, the women who purchased them would be remembered somehow. A very girl power book indeed.
To be honest, I’m not very good at writing book reviews, and book reports were my least favorite homework assignments in grade school. But what I do know is that for me to want to keep reading this book, meant it was a good read. Because it is hard to get me to stay interested. It made me want to buy a spontaneous ticket to London so I could go mudlarking in the Thames river to find pieces of history!