All-Night Pharmacy

A Novel

By: Ruth Madievsky

Narrated by: Moniqua Plante

Length: 8 hrs

Publisher's summary

On the night of her high school graduation, a young woman follows her older sister Debbie to Salvation, a Los Angeles bar patronized by energy healers, aspiring actors, and all-around misfits. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of sensual and risky interactions—nothing unusual for two sisters bound in an incredibly toxic relationship. Our unnamed narrator has always been under the spell of the alluring and rebellious Debbie and, despite her own hesitations, she has always said yes to nights like these. That is, until Debbie disappears.

Falling deeper into the life she cultivated with her sister, our narrator gets a job as an emergency room secretary where she steals pills to sell on the side. Cue Sasha, a Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union who arrives at the hospital claiming to be a psychic tasked with acting as the narrator's spiritual guide. The nature of this relationship evolves and blurs, a kaleidoscope of friendship, sex, mysticism, and ambiguous power dynamics.

With prose pulsing like a neon sign, All-Night Pharmacy is an intoxicating portrait of a young woman consumed with unease over how a person should be. As she attempts sobriety and sexual embodiment, she must decide whether to search for her estranged sister, or allow her to remain a relic of the past.

©2023 Ruth Madievsky (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

The Details

I could so relate to this story. The details and the story are superb. The reader was perfect for the role

Odd yet wonderful

This is one of the most brilliantly written books I’ve read. The metaphors and descriptions and prose is beyond excellent. Each word is expertly chosen to craft a lushly fleshed out story. And while interesting, it is painful from start to finish. The characters are written with such clarity that they are both believable and palpably cringeworthy. It’s not a comfortable story. It’s so melancholy that you feel it, and yet there is a strong underlying message of hope and reconciliation. I would read it again just for linguistic artistry.

Well written

Not that much happens beyond the dysfunction and all sorts of addiction, yet I couldn’t wait to get back to it. I attribute that to the writing and the well-matched reader. These characters may be familiar to many of us, for better or worse. The story does not bog down in Debbie’s chaos or the narrator’s self-absorption and, all told, is optimistic.

Well done in all aspects

Beautifully written and narration, elevates the story, making it all too real. An interesting blend of matter of fact, exciting and emotive. Makes you believe in surviving.

Great book!

I love books like this. The kind where there really isn't anything happening except you going day to day through the main character's dysfunctional life. That is exactly what this is. Looking forward to more books from this author.
The narrator was perfect for this book!

Very entertaining

This story could have been true. it is factual and representative of the culture at that time.

Good enough listen but not quite there

I kept waiting for the story to tie back to some grander truth or universality. There are plenty of tropes that are presented, and I kept thinking they would develop in to something bigger than the narrator, but I was always disappointed. At the end, it was just the story of a girl from LA with a kind of shitty childhood and adolescence. It was hard for me to resonate with the “coming of age story” without a broader tie in or a plot/through line.
Nice prose though, and some really nice imagery. It was kind of like a Jonathan Foer or Nicole Krauss pastiche that was missing the big reveal

Addict Abused Sisters

The path to addiction is a sly one, the path to recovery requires finding your authentic self and much more. Interesting story of self destruction and finding sobriety.

Great writing, read well

A dark psychological study, in the tradition of Dostoyevsky but set in our day, about a young woman in LA. The reading is a great performance that makes the excellent writing even more vivid.

Compelling characters, strange relationships

I devoured this book in one day. It completely held my attention with interesting characters and the challenge that is addiction. I couldn't tell where the narrator would end up, or how the relationships would change. There are definitely some difficult parts, but they passed quickly enough.