Where The Crawdads Sing Part 1

Show Notes

In this episode, Lisa shares her own “Everyone Loved It But Me” book. This week, Lisa discusses, The Lost Apothecary a debut novel by Sarah Penner.  This episode is spoiler free. This is Penner’s debut novel. 

 The book is about an 18th Century Apothecary, Nella, who sells poisons to women seeking to kill men. She has two rules: The poison must never be used to harm another woman and the names of the murderer, and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register. 

 NPR describes it as a poisonously good read, but Publisher’s Weekly says it starts out strong but peters out. One Goodreads reviewer Nilufer Ozmekik gave very positive reviews. 

Lisa questions some historical facts, pointing out that if a man dies a woman will likely be subordinate to another man. this article about Jane Austen that highlights some of the laws in the 1700s in London for women showing that women did not inherit the estate when a man died and was instead mostly forced to follow another man’s rules. 

 *The book titles mentioned include affiliate links. You can support the podcast by purchasing a book with the links because the podcast receives a small commission. 

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