Everything Is Poison

Sixteen-year-old Carmela Tofana has waited her entire life to become an apprentice in her mother’s apothecary shop in Rome. Alongside gruff but loving Maria and quiet Laura, Carmela is eager to learn the shop’s secrets as well as prove to the town that her mother and coworkers are not witches. But soon Carmela must reconcile her own desires with her mother’s personal decisions and how they affect the women who rely on the shop as a last refuge, while also contending with frenemy Violetta, now in need of her help. When her actions have far-reaching consequences, Carmela must quickly grow into the woman she is meant to become. McCullough (Enter the Body) intersperses bracing poems from the townspeople’s POVs between enrapturing third-person narrated episodes at the shop. Some poems capture moving portrayals of friendship and longing, though central theming depicts the heart-wrenching experiences of the many village women facing physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their partners. Based on a real figure and set in the same universe as Blood Water Paint, as addressed in an author’s note, this eloquent, rapid-fire novel is rich in cadence and history. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Jan.)