The Apothecary's Daughter (by Charlotte Betts)

(Amazon UK link)

I'd never heard of Charlotte Betts, but this novel was on the 'Bookbag' site shelves, and I liked the cover! I don't usually judge books that way - not entirely, anyway - and was a bit put off at first by the thought of a novel set in 17th century London in the midst of the bubonic plague. Not really my choice of subject matter.

But eventually I requested 'The Apothecary's Daughter' for review, and am very glad that I did. This is a wonderful debut novel. The writing is excellent, with just enough detail to paint a vivid picture of the tragic, often ghastly scenarios of plague-ridden London - the red crosses on the doors, the carts for those who had succumbed - and yet the author manages to avoid gratuitous gore.

Susannah is the daughter of an apothecary in an age when women did not generally work outside the home. Her life changes when her widowed father decides to marry again. There's a gentle love story underlying the whole of the book, with jealousies, betrayals and suspicions, but there's a whole lot more too.  Primarily - and obviously - is the background of 17th century London in the grip of plague. It was very well done and brought the time alive to me in a way that school history lessons could never do. But in addition, I began to understand the real dangers of childbirth in that era, and the problems of unscrupulous medics.

More of a shock to me was to learn first-hand (or so it seemed) about how African slaves were encouraged in this era, often treated appallingly. While some of those abusing them were clearly wicked, there was a great deal of ignorance too, if the background to this story is to be believed.

Susannah is a caring and open-minded young woman, but she has grown up in ignorance and cultural bias, and is (for instance) surprised to learn that African children could learn to read. There are a very moving few scenes where Susannah and her slave Phoebe are incarcerated together, quarantined from the plague.

Possibly the book is a little long-winded in places, but overall I thought it an excellent read. Highly recommended.

(You can also read my somewhat longer review of 'The Apothecary's Daughter' on the Bookbag site)