This Book Is Too Darned Cheap:
(There are now over 795,000 titles in the Kindle Store. We can't read them all, but when we find a great book by a relatively unknown author at a ridiculously low—or no—price, we'll let you know.)
By Tom Dulaney, Editor in Chief
The Apothecary's Daughter might easily be ignored by male readers. It has all the earmarks of a “Romance Novel” of the bodice ripping kind: It's set in Regency England (1811-1820) when a blush was blatant flirtation. It's milieu is a time when social class meant all and courtship was—well—courtly. It's fronted with a softly romantic cover showing an elegant young woman dressed in period garb.
Don't be fooled. The book is an exciting historical fiction novel disguised in "uber Romance" costume.
If you liked Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and World Without End for immersing you in 12th century England, you will thoroughly enjoy The Apothecary's Daughter for taking you to Regency England.
Protagonist Lillian Haswell is a young woman who dreams of overstepping the boundaries of the culture of her day. She has a passion for herbs and medicinal plants and the people in her life, has a talent for dispensing medicine, and challenges social rules to do just that.
You'll be as fascinated to enter daily life the village of Haswell's Bedsley Priors as your were in the cathedral-building village of Kingsbridge in Follett's novels.
As Follett guided you through the life of Tom Builder and the fascinating bustle surrounding the building of cathedrals in 12th century England, so Klassen will show you around the England of Lillian's day.
This book had been free last year for a bit, then sprouted a hefty price tag which it well deserved. It is free once more, and a worthy addition to anyone's ebook library, regardless of gender. It is a fine and engaging read.
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