The Pharmacist's Wife

By Vanessa Tait

A dark and thrilling tale of Victorian addiction, vengeance and self-discovery, perfect for fans of Sarah Waters, Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist and Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent.

Love. Desire. Vengeance. A deadly alchemy.

When Rebecca Palmer's new husband opens a pharmacy in Victorian Edinburgh, she expects to live the life of a well-heeled gentlewoman. But her ideal turns to ashes when she discovers her husband is not what he seems. As Rebecca struggles to maintain her dignity in the face of his infidelity and strange sexual desires, Alexander tries to pacify her so-called hysteria with a magical new chemical creation. A wonder-drug he calls heroin.

Rebecca's journey into addiction takes her further into her past, and her first, lost love, while Alexander looks on, curiously observing his wife's descent. Meanwhile, Alexander's desire to profit from his invention leads him down a dangerous path that blurs science, passion, and death. He soon discovers that even the most promising experiments can have unforeseen and deadly consequences...

Reminiscent of the works of Sarah Waters, this is a brilliantly observed piece of Victoriana which deals with the disempowerment of women, addiction, desire, sexual obsession and vengeance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Corvus
• Release date: Apr 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781786492722

Reviews for The Pharmacist's Wife

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So Rebecca Palmer's husband opens a pharmacy in Victorian Edinburgh and he starts experimenting on her with heroin to see if he can control her and maybe using her as an example other men could control their wives.As Rebecca descends into addiction she finds that things aren't as simple and she works to get her revenge.I didn't really care.

[busylizzie2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There was less depth than I expected to this enjoyable historical novel, despite the dark subject matter. Although a feeling of menace was established early on, as it became clear Rebecca had been chosen by her husband because of her seemingly friendless state, this sense of jeopardy was never fully realised. Even the tragic elements in the story failed to move me very deeply, though the arrogance of some of the men did make me angry.Rebecca turned out to be more resourceful than her husband would have imagined, with the ability to embrace attitudes that seemed rather ahead of her time. Both the development of her character and the rather neat ending were appealing, though not convincingly realistic.