Set in 1869, the book follows Rebecca Palmer as she is given a new medicine created by her husband named heroin. The book follows her descent into addiction and although the drug takes her away from her unhappy marriage with Mr Palmer, her life starts to unravel.
The book has possibly slightly too many things in it. Rebecca's descent into addiction and the wold she now found herself in would have been plot enough, instead we are shown Victorian bawdy houses, as well as Mr Palmer's belief that heroin will prove to be a wonder drug for women to keep them in their place and to stop wanting to encroach on the world of men.
While these scenes are well written and do to an extent have an impact on the plot, you can't help but feel that the story would remain exactly the same if they were taken out.
The last third of the book is the only time where I found the book to be a page turner - without revealing too much - Rebecca finds an ingenious way to take revenge on her husband for making her addicted to heroin.
The book is a good read, especially for all the knowledge of Victorian pharmacy that is inside it, but it was not the same book I was expecting to read.
The book has possibly slightly too many things in it. Rebecca's descent into addiction and the wold she now found herself in would have been plot enough, instead we are shown Victorian bawdy houses, as well as Mr Palmer's belief that heroin will prove to be a wonder drug for women to keep them in their place and to stop wanting to encroach on the world of men.
While these scenes are well written and do to an extent have an impact on the plot, you can't help but feel that the story would remain exactly the same if they were taken out.
The last third of the book is the only time where I found the book to be a page turner - without revealing too much - Rebecca finds an ingenious way to take revenge on her husband for making her addicted to heroin.
The book is a good read, especially for all the knowledge of Victorian pharmacy that is inside it, but it was not the same book I was expecting to read.