Brendan Dowling Author Archive
Email: bdowling@ala.org
The Library as a Hideout: A Conversation with Maile Meloy
Maile Meloy established herself as a formidable talent with her books Liars and Saints, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, and A Family Daughter. Yet in 2011, she embraced the YA scene with the beguiling The Apothecary. Set in England during the 1950s, The Apothecary follows fourteen-year-old Janie Scott, the daughter of two blacklisted screenwriters, and her new classmate Benjamin Burrows. Benjamin’s father is the local apothecary, and his seemingly mundane occupation proves to be much more when he is kidnapped by Russian spies who hope to get their hands on the Pharmacopoeia, an ancient book of spells and potions. Janie and Benjamin, along with their new friend Pip, are thrust into a whirlwind adventure involving magical transformations, teenage crushes, and preventing the deployment of an atomic bomb. This past June, Meloy released the book’s sequel, The Apprentices, to similar acclaim. Meloy spoke to Brendan Dowling via e-mail on August 29, 2013.
