From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

The Apothecary's Garden

Julie Bozza

Start date: September 1, 2021

Finish date: October 1, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Why we're reading this: This will be our September read!
[close] This will be our September read!

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 2 topics — 4,118 comments total

Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
By Josh · 3043 posts · 623 views

last updated Feb 21, 2024 10:37PM

February 2025: The Lemon Drop Kid
By Karen · 15 posts · 20 views

last updated Jun 14, 2025 04:47PM

showing 4 of 4 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Apr 01, 2013 Mandapanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: various-romance

Wow! This is quite brilliant. The May/December pairing doesn't usually appeal to me and luckily I didn't realise that was the theme of this novel because I might have missed out on reading it.

Sixty-something Hilary Kent inherits a run-down tower and overgrown garden in the English countryside. Just as he is settling in his life is disrupted by an enthusiastic history student who wants to write his thesis about the historic 'apothecary's garden'.

I loved Hilary with his knitted tea cosies, his ge ...more

39 likes · Like · see review

Apr 01, 2013 Ami rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mm-contemporary, mm-romance-or-erotica

This book is just so beautiful *dreamy sigh* ... Julie Bozza's prose flows easily, smoothly, dreamy, and oh, so romantic.

I think other reviews have presented more complete and thorough opinions about this. So I'm just trying to keep it short and focuses on my feeling.

At first, I think I am lucky that I have read my friends' rave reviews because I have prepared myself for the huge age-gap (42 years) that otherwise will not be my cup of tea. However, while I am reading this, the age gap seems to This book is just so beautiful *dreamy sigh* ... Julie Bozza's prose flows easily, smoothly, dreamy, and oh, so romantic.

I think other reviews have presented more complete and thorough opinions about this. So I'm just trying to keep it short and focuses on my feeling.

At first, I think I am lucky that I have read my friends' rave reviews because I have prepared myself for the huge age-gap (42 years) that otherwise will not be my cup of tea. However, while I am reading this, the age gap seems to disappear. It's just the beautiful way of Ms. Bozza tells the story, that I don't really care about it.

Since the story is written from Hilary's perspective, it is easy to see how Hilary sweetly falling for enthusiastic young Tom. Having said that, unlike a couple of reviewers, I can easily see how Tom falls for Hilary as well. Hilary might seem content and less exuberant -- but the way I see it, that is what make him attractive for Tom. It is said that Tom has an old soul. That he doesn't really care for the night out or partying with his friends. Sometimes we are attracted to somebody who is opposite of us, aren't we?

I also love the idyllic feel of Hilary and Tom living together, watching episodes of Midsomer Murders, drinking tea, restoring garden ... there are no car-chasings, gun-shootings, excessive drama and misunderstanding episodes. It's just daily activities but can be a huge source of happiness and contentment in life.

If I have complain (and why this story gets lower rating than how I rate Butterfly Hunter), it will be the resolution about the mystery surrounding Thaddeus's disappearance years ago. I'm a mystery lover -- I grew up reading Agatha Christie, with Ms. Marple and Poirot solving cold case murders. So when there's no actual answer, I get disappointed. I know this is not meant as a mystery book, but the little-mystery-monster who craves for it after being give the 'hints' (especially since this story also mentions Midsommer Murders) doesn't care.

PS: Before finishing this book, I Google-d couples with huge age gap and come across this article about real-life couple with 40 year-age difference who have been married for 12 years. Oh, and also Robert Duvall and his fourth wife Luciana Pedraza, who have been together 16 years, has 41-year-age difference. ...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Apr 01, 2013 Feliz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, contemporary, comfort-reads, sweet

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was another Julie Bozza book I gradually, slowly, but inescapably fell in love with while reading. The beginning was a bit bumpy with its fairy-taleish "once upon a time, there was a man..." convoluted wordiness, but I got quickly drawn into the story AND into the beautiful, at times slightly old-fashioned-sounding and yet so very fitting prose. This author has a way to paint pictures with words, I couldn't help being awed.

In a word, I loved this book. It can’t hold a candle to my all-time This was another Julie Bozza book I gradually, slowly, but inescapably fell in love with while reading. The beginning was a bit bumpy with its fairy-taleish "once upon a time, there was a man..." convoluted wordiness, but I got quickly drawn into the story AND into the beautiful, at times slightly old-fashioned-sounding and yet so very fitting prose. This author has a way to paint pictures with words, I couldn't help being awed.

In a word, I loved this book. It can’t hold a candle to my all-time favourite Julie Bozza book, Butterfly Hunter, but it comes close. Everything about it was just so up my alley– the garden, the slow pace, the sheer British-ness of both Hilary and Tom. And yes, even the much-belabored age difference...ok, 40+ years is huge, but considering who these two are, it became almost negligible.

Hilary is a man from a different generation; used to never being able to be open about his sexuality, he got accustomed to the thought of living and dying a loner. Being with someone at all was so novel to him he went about it with almost child-like joy, while at the same time, his maturity kept him from seizing the opportunity –read: Tom, and sex with Tom– by the collar first chance he got. Sweet, selfless, mature, thoughtful, that is Hilary, made shy and wary by life experience, but no coward. I don't think he would've reacted all that different if Tom had been closer to his age, though his age-gap induced self-doubts and misgivings–and how he deals with them– added greatly to this book’s charm for me.

Now Tom? A breath of fresh air, youth, beauty and strength and a supplement of muscle to Hilary’s comparable frailty; you’d think it’s Hilary who gets the most out of them being together. But for one, Tom is a nurturer at heart, he loves to care for things and people, he’s just as selfless and sweet as Hilary but of a youthful exuberance that he loves to channel into doing something useful, not waste in mindless pastimes. I don’t think he feels shut away with Hilary, especially given his ability to live in the now and seize the moment, however long it may last. For another, in his own way Tom is as much a man of Hilary’s generation as Hilary is himself. Tom is honorable, scholarly, a somewhat old-style gentleman, and in many ways, a shy person too, despite his laptop and ipad and his much more unrestricted approach at his own sexuality.

They just fit, their personalities match, why should the age difference be an insurmontable obstacle between them?

The writing, the way the story was told convinced me it wasn’t.

I had only two small niggles whith the book; one was a "huh?" moment within the story when Tom reacted totally without rhyme and reason, and completely out of the blue, with no viable explanation, and the other was Hilary’s relative sexual prowess. (but then again, people are different and Charlie Chaplin fathered a child at over eighty, so why shouldn’t Hilary be more steadfast in bed than other sexagenarians?)

What it comes down to it is, it’s a lovely, beautiful love story; I enjoyed it, and I hope many others will too, whether they can get over the age difference or not.

Oh, and I learned a new phrase: "toothsome pippins"-- it means delicious apples, doesn't it? ;-) ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Feb 12, 2015 J.L. Merrow rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I adored this. The pace is gentle, and it's the sort of book you simultaneously don't want to stop reading and don't want to finish too soon. Not so much a page-turner as a page-savourer. The characters were wonderfully drawn and simply were, without apology, the ages they were stated to be. My first read by Julie Bozza; I've already started the second. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

May 08, 2013 Antonella rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Just read another 5 stars review like the one of Vio or Macky. They've already expressed the beauty of this book.

ETA: A few people here criticized the book because the big age gap is not likely. I asked the permission of a friend to share the fact that he has been in and out of a relationship with a man 40 years older than him in the last 4 years. I thought the relationship had definitely ended, but there is still some attachment there. I loved the relationship in the book, but I'm skeptical abo ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2013 Susinok rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: glbt, contemporary, romance

I think this book is one of the most perfectly romantic books I've ever read. I loved every minute of reading it.

Julie Bozza even did a shout out to Mary Balogh, another favorite author of mine, with a few place names. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 19, 2014 Elisa Rolle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

2013 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention (5* from at least 1 judge)

2 likes · Like · see review

May 06, 2013 Meggie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m-romance-romance

This story is absolutely beautiful. The main story plot is surely a peculiar slow developing love story between younger Tom and older Hilary, which I personally wouldn't easily accept. But Julie Bozza gave us here a warm, especially well written realistic romance. I loved Hilary mindset and his attitude toward young Tom and all other secondary characters. He was a true shy gentleman. What is not to love here. Maybe I did miss Tom's POV, but even so, I loved it all!! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 01, 2013 Eve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Taking the May-December genre to another level. The love between Hilary and Tom was so convincing - so made for each other - age became, indeed, just a number.

While secretly worrying about the amount of tea (and their number of bathroom trips!) these two were having, seeing their love affair unfolds had been a sweet and almost whimsical experience. There wasn't a mean bone inside these two. Hilary's willingness to give up his cherished contentment in search for love and happiness was a great tr ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2013 Ingrid rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m

I like the writing of if. It was impeccable as always but I could not get into this may-decembre relationship. Hilary is exactly the same age as my dad and it was hard to get by that fact. I guess I never did.
As a historian I loved the restoration work on the garden but that was about the only thing that worked for me. That and the writing.

Like · see review