The Perfume Collector

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Grace Monroe, living in London in the 1950's. Grace is a young socialite whose marriage might not survive, and more and more she feels like the expectations of her and her social position don't fit with what she wants for herself. And then she gets a mysterious letter from a lawyer in Paris informing her that she has been given an inheritance from a woman named, Madame Eva d'Orsey who has recently passed away. That's great, except who is Eva d'Orsey? Grace leaves London and arrives in Paris to meet with the lawyer and find the identity of this woman and why she has left her a vast fortune. Told alternately from Eva's perspective (from the 1920's and on) and Grace's current experiences, the story of how these two women are connected and forever united, unfolds. This is the story of the many gifts one can bestow on another, but mostly the gift of the true self.

I read this one a few years ago and really enjoyed it, and was recently commenting to a friend that another book I'd read (The Scent Keeper) reminded me of this book. I decided to go back and read this one again and was not disappointed the second time around. I love the slow unfolding of this story; I love that I equally wanted to find out more about Grace and Eva throughout the story; I really love the way Tessaro creates a relationship between these two characters through decades and very little interaction, but enough to know that they are very important to each other. I also really enjoyed the description of the perfume shop that Grace finds when she arrives in Paris. It feels incredibly chic, but also very cozy and a place I would like to linger. I highly recommend reading this one. It's an enjoyable story that will keep you interested until the very end.