Literary Locations Of Sarah Penner

Submitted: 26th February 2023

The London of Sarah Penner

There have been many books set in London over the years but Sarah Penner takes readers to places in London you might not have visited before. She delves into the mysterious alleyways, the minds of women hidden by society and the strange backrooms of houses you would think were respectable from the outside.

In March, Sarah’s second novel The London Seance Society comes out and along with The Lost Apothecary, it details a London so strange and chilling, be thankful you are a reader reading this from the safety of your home and not one of the characters in that very world!

BookTrail locations in The Lost Apothecary

Let’s enter the streets of Sarah Penner’s London…..

In The Lost Apothecary, much of the action centers around Bear Alley in Farringdon where the apothecary is located. Now, this is not your ordinary apothecary of course.

“My shop, like my poisons, was too cleverly disguised. No man would find this place; it was buried deep behind a cupboard wall at the base of a twisted alleyway in the darkest depths of London.”

Could this be the apothecary? (c) Wikipedia

BookTrail locations in The Lost Apothecary

There are two rules to dispensing poison here:

Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

The secrecy around what the apothecary does in plain sight is magically evoked. There is hidden danger and a thread of suspense throughout. The city of London is one maze of dark, narrow backalleys and cobbled streets. The darkness in the city mirrors the cloak of secrecy of what these women are doing.

BookTrail locations in The Lost Apothecary

BEAR STREET

BookTrail locations in The Lost Apothecary

This world is one of confusion, smoke and mirrors where nothing is as it seems. It all happens in plain sight which makes it deliciously dark. A world where woman were kept in the dark when it came to managing their own lifes, having their freedom and making any kind of decision.

The London of The London Seance Society

Once again, the London of Sarah Penner is dark and clouded in mystery. The novel also takes us to Paris, but it’s the Victorian age in London that is brought so spectacularly to life. Sarah has captured all the detail of the time and the fascination into Spiritualism.

There is fog, darkness, street lamps and secrecy here. The real setting is not the city however but what went on in these seance halls. The séances are quite simply enchanting.

This is an immersive world of gothic storytelling.