Beloved Poison - Review

4.5 stars

When I saw of this book at the library, the cover with the letters resembling old posters for laudanum and such, I knew I had to read it. And I was definitely not disappointed with what I found written inside. Here are a few thoughts regarding "Beloved Poison" by E.S. Thomson.

Jem Flockart is the apothecary at St Saviour's Infirmary, a place that is about to be demolished to give way to progress, the construction of the railway and the future. But St Saviour's is trapped in its past as are all its inhabitants, Jam included. Jem is an outsider, always observing what happens from the outside without being seen and never saying anything. Our apothecary has her own secret to hide from the world, and has been guarding it all her life, but now things are changing and who knows what will come of it.

"The object I drew out was dusty and mildewed, and blotched with dark rust-coloured stains. It smelt of time and decay, sour, like old books and parchments. The light from the chapel's stained glass window blushed red upon it, and upon my hands, as if the thing itself radiated a bloody glow."

After six tiny coffins are uncovered—inside each a handful of dried flowers and a bundle of mouldering rags— life at St Saviour's will never be the same and the ordinary moments spent in the stinking wards, where doctors argue and backstab each other on a daily basis—driven by ambition, jealousy and hatred they can hardly hide behind fake smiles and professional courtesy—are over. The dead are unearthed from their graves to make room for the railway, while the living are forced to make difficult choices and murder is the price to pay if secrets have to remain so.

The main character may be Jem Flockhart, but the real protagonist of "Beloved Poison" is already in the title. There a lot of kinds of poison: the one that comes from herbs and chemical compounds and can be used to harm or cure; the one harbored in the hearts of those who cannot but hold on to their grudge so tight it eventually corrupts them; the one that is sought to cure the wounds of the soul.

"It was true, it was in my power to preserve life and to bring death."

E.S. Thomson depicts a world with vivid colors, recreating the smells, the filth, the troubles of London in 1850s, keeping her reader constantly on edge by hinting at more secrets yet to be uncovered, more lies and, almost certainly, more deaths. What remains to be read is who's turn it will be this time.

The reader can see different sides of Jem's character, not only because of how she reacts to the situations she has to face, but also thanks to the first person narrator: we follow the story through her eyes, and she admits from the start all her faults and mistakes. I came to like her, she has not been the luckiest of them all, but she manages to go on anyway. Will Quartermain cannot be farther from the idea of a night in shiny armour, but is loyal to her as anyone else has ever been, and that is more than enough to gain my support.

After this enthralling novel, I cannot wait for the second book in the Jem Flockhart series, "Dark Asylum" revolving around Angel Meadow Asylum.

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