Debut novelist Nancy Herriman became fascinated by the tension that existed between physicians, apothecaries and traditional herbalists as she researched The Irish Healer (Worthy Publishing), set in England in the 1830s. “The poor, who couldn’t afford physicians, were dependent upon either apothecaries or the neighborhood healer for a cure. This healer was likely a woman who’d learned her craft at the side of a female relative, and her expertise was only as great as that of the person who had trained her. It was a difficult time to be ill!”
