A review by marywahlmeierbracciano
Everything Is Poison by Joy McCullough

challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Much like her debut, Blood Water Paint, Joy McCullough’s Everything Is Poison is inspired by a real historical figure, sidesteps romance, and packs a powerful feminist message.  Adapted from a stage play, this novel follows a group of women running an apothecary in seventeenth-century Rome, interspersed with haunting vignettes in verse.  Aside from providing remedies for a variety of ailments and maladies, their mission is to help those who have nowhere else to turn—from domestic violence or an unwanted pregnancy, perhaps.  This is a book about honoring and continuing the legacy of the women who came before.  Readers of Dana Schwartz’s Anatomy should check it out.
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