Published by HarperCollins on May 14, 2013
Genres/Lists: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Pages: 464
Read synopsis on Goodreads
I received this book for free from She Reads.
Buy the book: Amazon/Audible (this post includes affiliate links)
As a non-perfume wearer, I must admit I was hesitant when I first read the synopsis of this book. Perfume? Muse? It all seemed, to be honest, a bit hokey. But because SheReads has yet to disappoint me, I forged ahead anyway. Boy, am I glad I did!
Not only is this book anything but hokey, it is not really about perfume at all. While The Perfume Collector is carried by the undercurrent of the perfume world, it could just as easily have been any other ‘elegant’ collector’s item (books, thimbles, animal figurines, tea sets….) Rather, the story is about hopes, dreams, disappointments, loves lost or found, and family. The fact that the underlying theme of perfume could be easily substituted is demonstrative of the power of the characters and their stories.
Unlike most books that switch between timeframes, The Perfume Collector doesn’t hop between centuries. The two stories often overlap in their timeframes, which added an element of mystery that I loved. Combined with Tessaro’s elegant writing style (which allowed me to fly through the 450+ pages fairly quickly), this book has landed itself near the top of my summer reading recommendations. .
For those of you interested in reading this book or connecting with the author, I recommend joining the live Twitter chat (details at SheReads). I plan to ask her the following:
What happened to Sis? Will there be a sequel or spinoff? I liked her a lot!
Does Tessaro has synthesis? Because she talks about smelling rain and tasting snow and I smell colors, so I’m really curious….Was it a coincidence that the prostitute was escorting a Mr. Wiener, or just pure dumb luck that it’s relevant and hilarious?