Apothecary's Daughter

November 24, 2008
Klassen's debut novel, Lady of Milkweed Manor
, was a Christy Award finalist, and her new Regency promises the same thanks to fine storytelling and knowledge of the apothecary's art. Lillian Haswell yearns to leave her father's apothecary shop in their small town and happily accepts an invitation to live in London. She leaves behind a handicapped brother, friends, her lonely father and memories of her lost mother, but finds that London holds its own troubles. Will Roger Bromley propose? What about the timid physician Adam Graves? And the dastardly Roderick Marlow? Will her humble origins ruin her chances of a good match? Complications ensue as Lillian is called home when word comes of her father's ill health. She takes over the apothecary shop—illegal, because a woman could not dispense medicine—and begins again thanks to her father's former assistant Francis Baylor. Klassen blends her tale well; each ingredient—romance, friendship, healing arts, mystery—is measured to produce a lively, lengthy tale that will satisfy Regency aficionados and general readers, too.

Narrator Davina Porter creates just the right atmosphere for this Regency story. She deftly matches voice with personality and gives distinct British accents to the various rural and urban characters. Lillie Haswell, the apothecary's daughter, dreams of leaving her quaint English village to travel the world in search of her missing mother. Instead she works with her father in his shop. When the opportunity comes for her to live in London, she jumps at the chance. But things don't work out as planned . . . In addition to a well-developed plot, the nineteenth-century world of medicine and herbal remedies is well depicted, and fascinating. N.L. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine