"The Lost Apothecary" by Sarah Penner

The Lost Apothecary will appeal to the readers who like historical fiction and enjoy solving old mysteries. In this book we follow two different timelines. The first one follows Nella, a rogue apothecary who owns a hidden shop in London and dispenses poisons to women who wish to do away with their husbands, brothers, or other men in their lives. The second timeline is set in present-day London. Caroline travels to the UK from Ohio on what was supposed to be her tenth wedding anniversary trip with husband. However, just a few days before the trip, she discovered that her husband had had an affair and she thus boarded the plane alone.

While in London, Caroline goes on a mud-larking tour - looking for objects in the riverbed of Thames hoping to find something interesting from the bygone days. She discovers a small glass container that looks like it could have been an apothecary vial. And thus her journey to unraveling Nella's story begins.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Some aspects of the story I thought were a bit far-fetched. After all, piecing together a story that occurred 200 years prior is no easy fit. Yet, Caroline is able to find the shop and newspaper articles dated back to the time and mentioning the pertinent events in a matter of days.

However, if you can suspend your disbelief and just go with the story, you are in for a treat. At its core it's a story of self-discovery, of following your dreams and getting back to what you used to love, but somehow let life get in the way. As I get older, I too tend to think a lot about my career choices and sometimes wonder if a different choice would have led me somewhere else. 

4 out 5 stars. I hope Sarah Penner keeps writing more books. This was her debut novel and I would gladly pick up her next book.

An e-ARC was provide by NetGalley.com

"The Paris Library" by Janet Skeslien Charles

The Paris Library is focused on the American Library in Paris during WWII. The book is written from several points of view and follows two different timelines: one set during WWII in Paris and the other in mid-1980s in Froid, Montana. What I like the most about the book is the atmosphere of a library and the multitude of literary references and quotes. In a way, it is a book about and for readers and library lovers. I also really appreciated the nuanced way the novel talks about what people living in France during WWII knew and did not know about the Nazis and their activities, and how the Nazi occupation slowly permeated every facet of Parisians' lives. The book also does a great job examining how the war affects the characters whose life in one way or another revolved around the library: someone is forced to flee just because of their nationality, someone else is openly targeted by the new regime because of their religion, ethnicity or possible connections. Others - shockingly - use the new circumstances to channel their pent up hatred and jealousy into writing anonymous reports to the Gestapo.

The thing that did not work very well for me is the second timeline based in the 80s in Froid, MN. I was not sure why the author had that parallel story. Yes, we see Odile, the librarian who worked at the ALP during WWII, now as an old woman living in the US. However, that storyline was not really connected thematically with the overall message of the book, at least for me, and I kept wondering why we even needed it. 

In terms of characters, there are many of them in the book. We don't really get to know any of them very closely. Most of them are just sketches, we get the outlines of their stories. We learn the most about Odile, and I have to say, she is a very frustrating character. For someone who is a voracious reader, she is awfully naïve and impulsive.  She also unexpectedly freezes in some situations, but acts completely rashly in others. I can't say I liked her. 

Overall, it was an interesting, albeit slow at times, novel but I am not sure it presents anything unique about the time-period or perspective. I would say that as a reader, I enjoyed the setting and the literary references. Also, as someone who studied French, I appreciated the peppering of French phrases throughout. Overall, an ok read. 3 out of 5 stars.

An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com