Bianca Goddard develops and sells tinctures for healing,
trying to stay under the radar as her father is an
infamous alchemist. When her friend, Jolyn, comes to
visit and is complaining of stomach pain, Bianca is only
too happy to help. Unfortunately, Jolyn takes Bianca's
herbal remedy and then dies in Bianca's shop. The local
constable suspects poisoning and Bianca is their primary
suspect. Bianca will have to clear her name or face the
gallows.
Many Tudor era books exist, but Mary Lawrence takes a
slightly different approach. Rather than focusing on the
drama between King Henry VIII and his plethora of wives,
Mary Lawrence's Author Note states she wants to deal with
the commoners and how they dealt with the sometimes
brutal policies of King Henry VIII. THE ALCHEMIST'S
DAUGHTER is about those on the fringes of society, the
individuals barely eking a living under the auspices of
an elite government that disdains their very existence.
Unfortunately for this reader, THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER
is perhaps a bit too realistic. I recognize that rats
were a part of life for the time period but the
descriptions had me cringing on more than one occasion. I
applaud Mary Lawrence for exposing the seedier and
sometimes quite unsavory aspects of the time period and I
wish I could say I enjoyed THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER more
than I did. Historical fiction readers who want a
realistic and gritty glimpse of the common man's life in
Tudor England will appreciate THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER.
In the year 1543 of King Henry VIII’s turbulent reign,
the daughter of a
notorious alchemist finds herself suspected of cold-blooded
murder…
Bianca Goddard employs her knowledge of herbs and medicinal
plants to concoct
remedies for the disease-riddled poor in London’s squalid
Southwark slum. But
when her friend Jolyn comes to her complaining of severe
stomach pains, Bianca’s
prescription seems to kill her on the spot. Recovering from
her shock, Bianca
suspects Jolyn may have been poisoned before coming to her—
but the local
constable is not so easily convinced.
To clear her name and keep her neck free of the gallows,
Bianca must apply her
knowledge of the healing arts to deduce exactly how her
friend was murdered and
by whom—before she herself falls victim to a similar fate…
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