The Lost Apothecary braids two timelines—1791 London’s shadowed alleys and the present-day city’s archives and riverbanks—into a story about secrets, survival, and the subversive power of women’s knowledge. Three women, separated by centuries yet bound by a single cobalt vial, must decide what to preserve, what to destroy, and who they’ll become when history looks their way.
Main Characters
Nella Clavinger
Nella Clavinger is the titular apothecary of 1791, a former healer who turns her shop at 3 Back Alley into a covert dispensary of poisons exclusively for women wronged by men. Hardened by betrayal and chronic illness, she lives by a strict code—never harm a woman—even as the secrets in her register seem to poison her body. Her guarded life cracks open when Eliza Fanning stumbles into the shop, and a reluctant mentorship grows into a fierce, near-maternal bond. Haunted by Frederick and the child she lost, Nella channels her pain into protecting Eliza and safeguarding the names of the women she’s helped, choosing legacy over self-preservation. Through her, the novel asks what justice costs—and whose stories are worth saving across time, including the connection felt by a modern seeker, Caroline Parcewell.
Caroline Parcewell
Caroline Parcewell anchors the modern timeline: an American in London for what should have been a tenth-anniversary trip, she’s reeling from her husband’s infidelity when a mudlarking find—a blue apothecary vial—sparks a historical investigation. Intelligent and underfulfilled, she rediscovers the researcher she once wanted to be, following a trail through archives with the help of new allies and refusing the tidy life she compromised herself to keep. As James Parcewell tries to reassert control, Caroline’s growing independence exposes the subtle manipulations that shaped her marriage. Tracing Nella’s hidden history becomes a mirror for Caroline’s own reclamation of identity, culminating in a decisive break from her past and a commitment to pursue her long-shelved ambitions.
Eliza Fanning
Eliza Fanning is a bright, superstitious twelve-year-old servant sent by Mrs. Amwell to procure poison, inadvertently setting the apothecary’s final chapter in motion. Brave, loyal, and captivated by “magick,” she peers past Nella’s forbidding exterior to the wounded woman beneath, transforming from errand-girl into confidante and ally. Eliza’s imagination and courage drive pivotal choices, including a daring act to protect Nella when danger closes in. Though she survives the fallout, what she carries forward—her literacy, her resilience, and a hard-won sense of self—becomes its own kind of magic, later shaping a gentler life with Tom Pepper and a lasting bond to the apothecary’s secret world.
Supporting Characters
James Parcewell
James Parcewell is Caroline’s husband, whose affair ignites her solo journey and whose attempts to “fix” their marriage expose his controlling, risk-averse nature. He follows her to London with performative remorse and escalating manipulation, including a desperate, self-harming gesture that centers his needs over hers. James embodies the comfortable, constricting life Caroline ultimately refuses.
Frederick
Frederick, a charming merchant from Nella’s past, seduces her with promises of marriage before poisoning her to induce a miscarriage. His cruelty births the apothecary’s darker purpose, with his death—commissioned by his wife using Nella’s first poison—becoming the inaugural entry in the register. Though he appears only in memory, Frederick’s betrayal is the fuse that lights the entire 1791 story.
Lady Clarence
Lady Clarence is an imperious aristocrat whose desperation to eliminate her husband’s mistress pressures Nella to violate her cardinal rule. Her scheme misfires when her husband drinks the poison, prompting panic, cover-ups, and a maid’s betrayal that draws the authorities toward Back Alley. Lady Clarence’s entitlement makes her both catalyst and accelerant for the apothecary’s exposure.
Mrs. Amwell
Mrs. Amwell is Eliza’s educated, kind mistress, trapped in a marriage to a predatory man; a tremor keeps her from writing, so she teaches Eliza to read and serve as her scribe. She sends Eliza to Nella seeking a way out, placing the girl at the heart of the apothecary’s covert network. Through her, the novel highlights the quiet bravery of women who pass on tools of survival—literacy, trust, and the courage to act.
Minor Characters
- Gaynor Baymont: A sharp, enthusiastic British Library researcher who befriends Caroline and fuels her investigation, modeling the solidarity Caroline needs to move forward.
- Bachelor Alf: Gaynor’s genial, eccentric father and mudlarking guide, whose encouragement leads Caroline to the apothecary vial that starts it all.
- Thompson Amwell: Mrs. Amwell’s abusive husband and Eliza’s predatory master, becoming the first target in the book’s chain of poisonings.
- Miss Berkwell: Lord Clarence’s cousin and mistress, intended victim of Lady Clarence’s plot but spared when the poison claims another.
- Tom Pepper: A bookshop worker fascinated by magick who befriends Eliza, gifting her a spellbook and later becoming her husband.
Character Relationships & Dynamics
Across both timelines, the novel centers a web of female alliance that subverts male control. Nella and Eliza form a profound mentor–daughter bond: Eliza’s curiosity and steadfast loyalty thaw Nella’s isolation, while Nella’s knowledge and protection give Eliza agency. Their connection is the beating heart of the 1791 narrative and a clear embodiment of Female Solidarity and Empowerment.
Caroline’s link to Nella is temporal rather than personal, yet just as transformative. As Caroline reconstructs the apothecary’s past, she recognizes her own story in Nella’s—betrayal, constriction, and the hunger to choose one’s life—illustrating The Power of the Past and History. The archive becomes a conduit for modern empowerment: uncovering another woman’s truth helps Caroline claim her own.
Eliza and Caroline mirror each other across centuries as young women at crossroads who choose curiosity over fear. Their parallel arcs—one in candlelit corridors, the other in reading rooms and along the Thames—underscore Self-Discovery and Identity, showing how bravery and intellect carve new paths.
Opposing them is a pattern of male harm—Frederick’s deceit, Thompson Amwell’s predation, and James Parcewell’s manipulative control—that drives the plots in both eras. The women’s responses, from clandestine poisons to legal separation and higher education, interrogate Revenge and Justice and the cost of survival in a world shaped by Betrayal. Around these poles, two informal factions emerge: a covert sisterhood (Nella, Eliza, Mrs. Amwell, and—centuries later—Caroline with Gaynor) and a complacent patriarchy (men who wound, or institutions that protect them), with Lady Clarence’s ambition dangerously destabilizing both.