In this sequel to The Apothecary, Meloy has continued the story with Benjamin, his father, Janie and Pip, but now the kids are the apprentices to the apothecary.  The last book ends with Benjamin giving Janie and her parents and Pip a celebration drink which erased their memories of the last three weeks.  Benjamin also took Janie’s diary in which she had meticulously recorded the events of each day.  Pip becomes a well known actor in England and no longer needs to steal to support himself.  Benjamin and his father have gone to the jungles of Viet Nam in the midst of the beginning of the war, and work thanklessly to save the Vietnamese people from both their wounds and the jungle.  Janie goes back to the U.S. with her parents, however, her parents go to Michigan to work and Janie goes to boarding school in New Hampshire.  Janie is an excellent and serious student who excels in the sciences.   As time passes, traces of her memory from her time with the apothecary begin to return, and she works on an experiment she’s remembering in which you can remove the salt from ocean water and make it drinkable.  Her roommate’s father, Mr. Magnusson, is a wealthy businessman who pays an inordinate amount of attention to Janie and her work, to the exclusion of his own daughter.  Janie’s roommate, in a jealous rage,  finds ways to get Janie expelled from school, thereby halting her science experiment before it is done.  Eventually Mr. Magnusson kidnaps Janie and coerces her to finish her work.  Meanwhile, Benjamin and Pip learn of her disappearance and come to her aid.  Each chapter flips from one character and their problem to the next, giving the illusion it’s all happening at the same time.  The action is non-stop and the book is a real page-turner.  If you enjoyed The Apothecary, you’ll be sure to enjoy The Apprentices.