Product Description Lillian Haswell, brilliant daughter of the local apothecary, yearns for more adventure and experience than life in her father's shop and their small village provides. She also longs to know the truth behind her mother's disappearance, which villagers whisper about but her father refuses to discuss. Opportunity comes when a distant aunt offers to educate her as a lady in London. Exposed to fashionable society and romance--as well as clues about her mother--Lilly is torn when she is summoned back to her ailing father's bedside. Women are forbidden to work as apothecaries, so to save the family legacy, Lilly will have to make it appear as if her father is still making all the diagnoses and decisions. But the suspicious eyes of a scholarly physician and a competing apothecary are upon her. As they vie for village prominence, three men also vie for Lilly's heart.
Great Book 2010-08-28 Chef Lionfoot (Westchester, NY USA) I am not a raomance novel reader, but I do love "period" movies, and since I got this for my Kindle for free, I thought that i would give it a try. Turned out to be a very lovely story, and the interjection of homeopathic remidies from long ago was very interesting. Highly sugggested.
Rating:
3/5
Just okay. 2010-08-20 Rhonda This is different from most of my picks. I read it for a change. Interesting history, but the story got slow at times.
Rating:
4/5
Excellent read 2010-07-23 book (Canada) To me a good story has strong characters and bits of history woven throughout. It becomes even better when I learn about healing properties of plants. As a result, this book is now one of my "must read again" novels. I can't wait to read more from this author.
Rating:
4/5
An accidental purchase that turned out to be surprisingly great! 2010-07-19 Coraline (Boston, MA USA) I honestly have not read a historical romance for at least five years if not longer. My taste in books is more on the fantasy/sci-fi side of things so I typically would have never gone for this particular book - but I happened to accidentally purchase it a long time ago.
I considered deleting the book - but I decided that I should probably at least try reading it before I tossed it out so quickly. I started reading and couldn't stop!
Mind you, there were points in the book that were a little slower than others, but I was never bored of the book. The characters were so well developed and had genuine personality. I have a tendency to enjoy more eccentric characters in the books I read - but these characters were so real and well-rounded, I truly enjoyed spending time with them. The main character, Lilly, was warm at heart and I found myself able to relate with her even though we are living in completely different centuries. I was excited to choose a favorite suitor for her (considering she has many) and was pleased with how the story played out.
I haven't read a historical fiction book since I was very young and into the American Girl doll books to be completely honest. Of course there was Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, etc. in high school but I was never completely enthralled with them. This book opened up a new interest for me. I look forward to trying out some of the other Julie Klassen novels and I'm definitely going to try picking up some Jane Austen or something by the Bronte sisters again. This book certainly opened up new and different reading interests for me and I look forward to exploring them more thoroughly.
Rating:
5/5
the apothecary's daughter 2010-07-06
truly excellent read. I could not puy it down. I especially enjoyed the time period in whicch it was set (early 1800's).
