The Perfume Collector - Book Review

The Perfume Collector by Katheleen Tessaro is the SheReads selection for the month of August.

Grace, a reluctant London socialite, has just figured out that her husband is having an affair when she receives word that she is the heir to a recently deceased woman in Paris. Once in Paris, she learns that a Eva d'Orsey, a woman she has never heard of, has left her an apartment and a very nice stock portfolio and a desire that Grace have "Le droit de choisir" (The right to choose). But before Grace feels she can accept the inheritance, she is driven to learn all she can about Eva.

Orphaned Eva d'Orsey is a young maid in a posh New York hotel in 1927. Her photographic memory and her developing friendships with several hotel patrons including an apprentice perfumer will thrust her into another world.

Kathleen Tessaro recreates the historical time periods smoothly and with exactness, taking the reader effortlessly from the debauchery of the 1920's in New York City and Monte Carlo to the high fashion of the post-war 1950's Paris. Tessaro tells a moving and unique love story but is most successful at describing the complex and fragrant perfumes. The book almost took on it's own scent and now I have a heightened awareness of the individuality of smells.

Evocative and irresistible, The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro is an enjoyable escape.



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** I received a complimentary copy of The Perfume Collector from the publisher through the SheReads Network in exchange for my honest review. No additional compensation was received. **