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A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra--and lost for 2,000 years.
Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances--and of her mother's suicide--she moved to America. Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it's financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing--leaving a dead body in his wake--Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind.
Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream infused perfume?
The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.
AUTHOR BIO:
M.J. Rose is the international best selling author of eleven novels and two non-fiction books on marketing. Her next novel THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES (Atria/S&S) will be published in March 2012. Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in many magazines and reviews including Oprah Magazine. She has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio. Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the '80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors - Authorbuzz.com. The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose's novels in the Renincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and runs the blog- Buzz, Balls & Hype. She is also the co-founder of Peroozal.com and BookTrib.com.
Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.
For more information on M.J. Rose and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE. You can also find her on Facebook.
My Thoughts:
The Book of Lost Fragrances is another superb novel by M.J.Rose. This time she takes the readers into the world of perfumes and reincarnation. In the story there was Cleopatra's personal perfumer who created all of her scents, he is currently working on a scent that with the aroma will bring on past life memories. He is having an affair with a married woman which is taboo and they know if they are found out they will be killed. They both end up taking poison and left instructions to be embalmed and buried together.
In Napoleon's time, while searching this tomb where the two lovers were entombed, a book and shards of a pot that had carried the secret perfume of reincarnation is found and taken out of Egypt secretly and is supposedly in the possession of the L'Etoile family.
Fast forward to current time, there is a conflict waging by China and the Buddhist Monks over how a Dalai Lama is chosen and monks are setting themselves on fire in protest. The Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others and China wants to control how this is done.
A side story that is weaved in is about a young man who is visiting Paris from China, but you dont's really find out what his purpose is in the story untill the end, so I will not say here.
Jac L'Etoile, one of the main characters in the story has had many issues to deal with and moved from France to the US in order to deal with this. As a young girl her mother committed suicide and Jac found her. As a result she has had to have therapy in order for her to accept what happened to her mother. The L'Toile family have been perfumers for a long time and Jac's father is now unable to continue creating perfumes due to dementia. Jac has the ability to be able to smell a scent and tell what the ingredients are. Jac's brother Robbie has taken over for their father but disappears and Jac is obligated to go back to France to find him. She also sees her lover from time past and needs to deal with her feelings about him and try to figure out the mystery of her brother's disappearance. Robbie is in possession of the ancient chards of the perfume container from ancient Egypt and evildoers are after the chards for their own purposes and Robbies goal is to see that they are given to the Dalai Lama. So the race is on, first to find Robbie,then to find the The Book of Lost Fragrances that Robbie believes exists but Jac does not. From Egypt,to France and the catacombs of Paris the story swoops you along for the ride.
What ensues is a story that is exciting and mysterious. This is a story that shows the love of perfume by the author. When the different scents were described in the book, I could almost smell the vanilla, musk, frankincense and myrrh. Combining the history of the Dalai Lama, perfumes, and past lives ensures that the story is a pleasure to read. I loved it!!! But I am biased as I love anything that M.J.Rose writes and look forward to reading more of her stories.
I received an ebook of this title for review from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and was not voluntary compensated for my review.
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