The Apothecary by Maile Meloy has been on my bookshelf for quite some time. Meloy is married to Colin Meloy who wrote Wildwood as well as the Decemberists. It looked interesting in an old world-follow a character-get into a storyline type of way. The book sat because a newborn happened, and there really isn't as much time as there used to be!
The story revolves around Janie, an American who has parents that may or may not believe in Communism during the building of the first nuclear weapons. This forces them to leave LA for London, living in a small flat. Upon arrival they see the apothecary, and the intrigue starts to build. The apothecary is a cross between a pharmacist and a magician, making the unbelievable possible.
As the story unfolds Janie becomes enamored with the apothecary's son Benjamin. Together they start spying on people in the park, and are pulled into a world of espionage and counterterroism. As the apothecary vanishes Janie and Benjamin go in search of him, a journey that involves changing shape (think aviary!), befriending a jailed pickpocket, escaping detectives from Scotland Yard, and stowing away on a ship.
I really enjoyed the story. I found the story to be believable, and not to bog down in minor plot lines. Meloy kept the main thing the main thing- the apothecary, what he was doing, and finding him. The other story lines all fit neatly within the main plot and are not overly distracting. I'm excited to push some of my more advanced readers into this over the course of the next school year.
Rating: 4 out of 5- really good, and I don't typically like historical-esque fiction.
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