"The Alchemist's Daughter" by Mary Lawrence - An Enchanting Tale of Magic and Adventure

SIGRID: This is a novel/criminal detective story which is engaging and satisfying to read. Like the medieval setting

Spain on Sep 17, 2023

Gayle Doukas: I liked this book however it was not what I was expecting. I knew it was taking place during the reign of Henry VIII but I thought there would have been more about the political climate of the times. I also thought there might have been more about how Bianca learned her trade. Was it from her father? Even though I was conflicted by her past (or lack of one), I still enjoyed the storyline. The descriptions were very vivid and brought the less desirable areas of London at that point in history to light. I think I liked John more than Bianca and since this was the first book in the series, I am looking forward to reading their further adventures.

United States on Mar 19, 2022

Ms. Poe: As a slice-of-life story set in the Sixteenth Century, this is a good book. The setting is spot on, the atmosphere and the dialogue are convincing, and the plot is interesting. The characters aren’t very well developed, but this is the first of the series, so they might get better.

As a mystery, it doesn’t fare as well. Both of the mysteries are solved long before the book ends and they were simple for the reader to solve. The most mysterious part of the book was the Rat Man and what part he played in anything.

United States on Dec 13, 2020

KB: book in great condition ...interesting story

United Kingdom on Dec 13, 2020

SeekingTraveler: This is the first novel in a series of very interesting mystery novels written by Mary Lawrence. I have read the first four novels in the series:
1. The Alchemist's Daughter;
2. Death of an Alchemist;
3. Death at St. Vedast; and
4. The Alchemist of Lost Souls.

A fifth novel, The Lost Boys of London, is scheduled for release soon. I intend to buy it, as well as any future books Ms. Lawrence may write.

No spoilers: I do not discuss any plot elements in reviews of fiction books, because I personally hate reviews that include "spoilers."

Setting: These books are set in London, England starting in the final years of the reign of King Henry VIII (with the first novel starting in 1543). The novels focus on a main character who is a very intelligent young woman who uses her knowledge of plants and chemistry (a science still in its infancy) to make medicines. The novels focus on the lives of "commoners," not the royalty or other elites of London.

Pros:
-- I quite enjoyed reading these novels: I enjoyed the mystery, the characters, the environment, the language.
-- I liked that the main character is a smart woman who uses the powers of on her...

United States on Mar 10, 2020

Fred de Vries: During the latter part of Henry VIII's reign (1509-1547), Bianca Goddard knew a thing or two about medicinal herbs. When her friend Jolyn visits her, complaining of stomach pains, Bianca's tonic only seems the exacerbate the pains and Jolyn dies. While Bianca suspects that Jolyn must have been poisoned elsewhere, the law in the form of Constable Patch is certain that Bianca's cure must have been the cause. Bianca needs to find the killer before she herself is convicted of the murder.

If I were in a friendly mood, I would say that the plot meanders slowly through the story, like the Thames does through London. But if I'm honest, the plot is so full of holes, a small moon could pass through them. In 1543, London was home to about 50,000 inhabitants, but almost none of them seems to have found their way into 'The Alchemist's Daughter'. London seems to be devoid of people and only the characters in the story often coincidently meet each other.

The protagonist Bianca is portrayed as strong-willed and intelligent, but her antics and foolish decisions put her constantly in danger and imprisonment. Where it not for her lover John, she would not have survived her own...

United Kingdom on Jun 23, 2019

Spsiurski: Kept my interest, good storyline, easy to imagine oneself in that time and place. I would recommend reading this book

Canada on May 17, 2019

Daisy: Mary Lawrence combines history and fiction with fascinating alchemy—all the more intriguing because the heroine of her fast-paced mystery, the first in the Bianca Goddard series, set during the late days of Henry VIII’s reign, is daughter to an alchemist, although Bianca claims to be a chemist, a maker of remedies. Lawrence is adept at putting fulsome smells, early scientific methods and sanitary practices of the time into the broader Tudor class structure and giving a picture of how Bianca and her friends at the poor end of society survived. Lawrence gives us with gusto a sense of language at the time, the bawdy humor, desperate circumstances, cruel laws and errant enforcers of the laws. The plot is well crafted with surprising twists and hair-raising suspenseful moments such as the unexpected effect of one of Bianca’s remedies on her best friend, numerous ups and downs in her relationship with the man in her life, hair-raising run-ins with the law and unfortunate encounters with particularly odious traps from which she must escape. The periodic misty appearance of a figure who could be a muckraker (literally) or the figure of death watching a ship with silk to trade try to...

United States on Jul 07, 2015

Celine R.: Good read.

Canada on Jun 16, 2015