How long does it take to read The Apothecary?
Maile Meloy
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy takes about 6 hours 45 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 6 hours 45 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2011. 368 pages, about 101,200 words. Written for children.
14 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 11 hours 15 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 6 hours 45 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 13 minutes |
The page count is the median across 4 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
It’s 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows—a fascinating boy who’s not afraid to stand up to authority, and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin’s father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary’s sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.
Subjects: Cold War, Adventure and adventurers, Juvenile fiction, Fiction, Alchemy, History
