This is a richly detailed and textured historical novel that gives a vivid picture of the culture and way of life for all people living in South Carolina in the 1830's. Two of the four main characters were actual women , Sarah and Angelina Grimke, both famous and infamous at the time for being the first women abolitionists, and the first women to speak on women's rights. Shockingly, I had never heard of the Grimke sisters, nor had anyone else in our book group. The other two lead characters , a mother and daughter who were slaves in the Grimke sisters' home, were imagined characters who felt entirely real. This book is very informative from an historical perspective, but is, additionally, interesting and insightful due to the fully developed characters and their relationships. The book is beautifully written, and is written in a unique manner of alternating voices each chapter- going back and forth between Sarah Grimke and Handful, her personal slave.

The strength of this book is in the author's ability to describe - the geography , the night sky, the food, the scents, the colors - so that the reader sees and feels and experiences them. The concept of the Literary Apothecary is wonderful, and the characters are enjoyable. What I did not love is the extreme emotionalism/ romanticism of the characters, and how they responded to their heartbreaks and losses. I felt manipulated by some of the plot lines, and it kept me from connecting with the characters. I liked this book a lot and it is definitely worth reading, but I wanted to love it and was disappointed that I did not.