Somewhere between 2.75 to 3 stars, rounding it up to 3.

“First, there was trust. Then, there was betrayal. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot be betrayed by someone you do not trust ... what you have learned is the same heart-wrenching journey of every woman to whom I have sold a poison. And it is, indeed, the same path for me.”

At the end of the 18th century, deeply hidden in one of the back alleys of London, a woman called Nella lived in a shop concealed by shadows, nursing the wounds of a tragic betrayal inflicted on her by the man she loved, by punishing all the other men who treacherously hurt their women with lies and deceit. She has turned her late mother's shop, dedicated to preparing soothing antidotes for people's ailments, into a sinister place that sells women poisons they can use to murder the men who have hurt them. One day, a 12 year old little girl walked into her shop, coming to pick up a poison she had requested for her mistress, and after that day, nothing was going to be as it was for Nella. Meanwhile, in the present day, an inquisitive American woman called Caroline arrives in London for a small vacation which was supposed to be a 10 year anniversary getaway with her husband. However, things took a wrong turn in their marriage and she had to travel alone, reevaluating her life choices. The lives of these two women, living in vastly different times, get mixed together in this story, with stark parallels with each other.

“Intermingled in the mess was another, subtler secret ... we were happy, yet unfulfilled. It was possible, I understood now, to be both at the same time.”

Having listened to the audiobook of this likely had a large impact on my enjoyment. The narrators made this story very interesting and added a lot of life to it, which is a very good point, however, I don't think I would have enjoyed it this much if I had just read this without the audio. Even though the story is interesting, I felt like this could have had more potential if more plot complexity was involved. The sole aspect that kept my interest in this story going is Nella's fate. Everything else felt too bland. I wouldn't say it angered me or bored me severely, but I didn't have that much of a gripping and exciting experience reading this. The plot was fairly simple, without much intricacies or twists that make this a page turner. The 18th century perspective had more character complexity than the modern day one. During the modern day, the characters were just spitting cliches of archetypes they were supposed to represent. Caroline, the typical inquisitive American girl, and the British friend she made who seemed to have no personality of her own other than just being the "new friend who supports the main character", which made the characterization overly simplistic.



“First, there was trust. Then, there was betrayal. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot be betrayed by someone you do not trust.”

The 18th century perspective was more interesting in terms of atmosphere and characterization, with an appealing gothic bent given to the characters. However, the plot still felt as simple and a tad bit boring as that of the modern day, though what got me through it was the excellent narration. It's noteworthy to mention that some of my favourite quotes from this book are found in the 18th century story line.

“Why did we go to such lengths to protect the fragile minds of children? We only robbed them of the truth—and the chance to grow numb to it before it arrived with a hard knock on the door.”

The story itself was nice, and I really liked the contrast between the 18th century world and the modern one. I was left with a longing to see the characters from the two worlds unite and interact with each other, but knowing that was impossible added a nice touch of melancholy to my reading experience. On a big picture philosophical level, it might even bring the reader closer to appreciating their own mortality, seeing how a complex character like Nella and all of her deeply emotional experiences were nothing more than mere memories and some words on a register in modern day Britain, a world vastly different than the one she lived in, making it impossible to imagine here being side by side with Caroline, though the reader might crave that interaction.



“If felt as though the universe, in her strange and nonsensical way, meant to reach out to me, to remind me of the enthusiasm I once had for the trifling bits of bygone eras, if only I could look beneath the dirt that had accumulated over time.”

Overall, this book was alright, and I did enjoy it largely thanks to the narration. I do recommend listening to the audiobook of this, since it might help to appreciate the story more.

“Healing by way of vengeance ... no such thing existed; it never had. Hurting others had only injured me further.”