It is 1665 and teenage Mae desperately wants to be an apothecary, like her father Wulfric. But Wulfric ignores Mae's obvious natural talent, preferring instead to take on a male apprentice - whom, ironically, Mae ends up teaching! So Mae turns to Isabel, the village midwife, who walks a dangerous line with her herbs and remedies. In those days an intelligent, strong-minded woman could easily be accused of witchcraft. As Mae tries to hide her friendship with Isabel (and Isabel's adopted son, Rafe), another danger is on its way from London. One that threatens to engulf them all.
The village of Eyam, in Derbyshire, is now famous for being the 'Plague Village' - where the inhabitants courageously chose to close themselves off from the rest of the country to avoid the sickness passing onto others. 'Lockdown', basically! Despite being an apothecary, Wulfric favours prayer as the best way to prevent the Plague from spreading, even destroying Mae's notes when she tries to research a treatment or cure. The author's research into herbs and their use in the 17th century is incredible, and I also loved all the historical detail, about how the Plague affected London, and how only the rich could run from it - the poor had to stay and suffer! Eyam itself was not quite as realised as I'd hoped, but many real-life characters had 'walk-on' parts, which was a nice touch.
The only negative for me was the omnipresent narrator, who kept pulling me out of the story while I tried to work out whose viewpoint it was. Despite that, I loved this story of female friendship and empowerment.
Thank you to Joanne Burn and Sphere/Little Brown for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.
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