As a lookback on my past works, this blog post is going to focus on my short story Lavender and Leeches. This was previously published in The People’s Friend magazine back in 2019.
Alongside it was this lovely illustration by Jim Dewar.
It was my sixth story with the magazine and was heavily inspired by watching reruns of Victorian Pharmacy, a BBC documentary series starring Ruth Goodman where historians recreated working in a 19th century pharmacy.
Other influences came from the pharmacy display at the Bridewell Museum in Norwich, which, while based on a 20th century pharmacy, certainly has a varied and interesting selection of old medicines. There’s even a carboy 😊
