Q: Tell us about your journey to becoming a novelist.Ī: I’m a relatively new writer and this is my debut. Scary Mommy sat down with Penner recently to talk about it all: what it feels like to write a best-selling novel, how to write characters that women really connect to, and what she’s reading now.

Now she’s a full-time writer who is thrilled that she can share her imagination with the world. each morning, lighting a candle, and getting to work on a witchy novel centered around a female apothecary who helps other women rid their lives of the men who have betrayed them.

Not too long ago, she was waking up at 5 a.m. It all happened to Sarah Penner, the author of The Lost Apothecary, this month’s Scary Mommy Book Club pick. It’s every writer’s dream: quietly writing a novel during your day job, sending it off to some agents and then-boom-before you know it, you’re on the New York Times Best Sellers list and everyone is talking about your book. If you haven't read this addicting book, with one of the most beautiful book covers I've ever seen, then pick it up today! Afterward, when you are inevitably crushed to see it end, keep this list handy for what to read next.Sarah Penner on empowering women, exploring betrayal, and going from day job to dream job But this suspenseful tale may not have a happy ending for everyone - from 200 years ago or today.

When she stumbles on a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders from the past, she becomes obsessed with finding out more. Fast-forward to present day, when wannabe historian Caroline Parcewell is spending her anniversary in London alone, having just discovered her husband was cheating on her. Nella knows how to disguise poisons in discreet vials for oppressed women, and her business is going well (if not lonely) when a precocious 12-year-old fascinated by 'magick' wants to get involved. Historical fiction, magical realism, and feminist literature all in one novel make The Lost Apothecaryby Sarah Penner easy to devour - I read it in one day! For newcomers, The Lost Apothecary is set in 18th-century London, where a secret apothecary shop hidden behind a trick bookshelf helps women with all of life's woes - including taking care of the men who make their lives miserable. If you buy a product we have recommended, we may receive affiliate commission, which in turn supports our work. As POPSUGAR editors, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too.

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