I was very kindly sent this book from the lovely people over at Europa Editions and it sounds amazing! It was translated from the Italian by Katherine Gregor. I started this book for the 'historical fiction' challenge as part of the #AutumnReadthon recently as it's set in Venice 1118AD. It is such an unusual book with a crippled former monk, a dwarf apothecary, Venetian nobles and so much more.
We follow a fairly large cast of characters in particular, a former monk turned scribe for the Grimani family, an influential noble family within Venice and an eccentric female physician. I adored the setting of Venice as not only have I been there but it's such an incredibly atmospheric, eerie and vivid setting as well which fits the book perfectly as it too is dark, mysterious and unusual. I loved the writing and story on the whole, even though at times it is very disturbing and the author seems to like graphic descriptions when it comes to dead bodies, sex and medical examinations which may not have been needed in such detail... I liked the mystery, even though at times it was a little predictable; I also liked the characters, especially Kallis, Abella, Sabbatai and Edgardo who were all vidid and interesting characters. The ending was great, if a little disturbing, yet again.
I would definitely recommend it especially for this time of the year but maybe not if you aren't comfortable reading about overly detailed and unusual descriptions of human genitals, medical topics or dead bodies...I would rate it higher but it was a little slow at times and it took me a while to get into it. It definitely reminded me at times of The Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland so if you're interested in this book but want a similar read with less disturbing themes, then check it out - I'd highly recommend both and I was very close to rating The Apothecary's Shop four stars!