The Book of Lost Fragrances by M. J. Rose
Here's something a bit different. This
exotic, intriguing book is called "a novel of suspense" on the cover,
but there are elements of thriller, family saga, and romance sprinkled in.
The House of L'Etoile, a French perfume
company that has been in the L'Etoile family for generations, has fallen upon
hard times. The present owners, brother and sister, Robbie and Jac, different
on how to save the business, to the point of estrangement. Jac is a mythology
expert who has her own cable TV show and has built her career of demystifying
myths, finding the actual historical roots many of them sprang from. One such
myth is her ancestor's tale of the Fragrance of Memory, a perfume that makes
you remember things, maybe even past lives. Since their father was declared
incompetent six months ago (their mother died when they were children), Robbie
has been running the business in Paris. Only after Robbie, a student of
Buddhism in recent years, took the reins did the siblings realize how close to
bankruptcy they are.
One solution to their woes would be to
sell their two most popular lines, Rouge and Noir. But the two have very
different ideas about this. Past lovers intrude into their lives and Jac fights
to retain her fragile grip on sanity, earned after a stay in a mental
institution when she was in her teens.
Everything swirls around a vial of
ancient perfume and its recipe, said to have been found in the tomb of two
lovers, by Gile L'Etoile, perfumer to Napoléon. Some
pieces of inscribed, broken pottery, found in their father's disorganized
workshop, may be the remnants of that vial. But, if they are, international rival
groups, as well as some unexpected others, are quite determined to get their
hands on the shards. The cost of human life isn't counted very high to some of
them.
The novel ranges the globe, but I would
give away too much if I told you where you'll end up for the breathless
conclusion.
I absolutely loved this book!
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