Why a Booktrail?
1920s: Imagine being left an apartment in Paris?
The Perfume Collector
What you need to know before your trail
One letter will turn newly-married Grace Munroe’s life upside down:
‘Our firm is handling the estate of the deceased Mrs Eva D’Orsey and it is our duty to inform you that you are named as the chief beneficiary in her will. We request your presence at our offices at your earliest convenience, so that we may go through the details of your inheritance.’
There is only one problem. Grace has never heard of Eva D’Orsey.
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Paris
This is guide book in a novel for the very places mentioned and which play a major part in the story are some of the magical and interesting there are in the city. You can stay in the exact hotel , Grace stays in, shop in the very store she finds interesting and wander the same streets looking for clues as to why she’s been left an apartment by a stranger.
Start your tour at the Hotel Raphael and then have a nice leisurely walk down the Champs Elysees, on your way to the lovely Rue du Rivoli where Grace goes to see the solicitors. You can have a nicer time by avoiding legal matters and instead spending time in the posh shops. The offices look out onto the Louvre museum and she later visits the hallowed halls so a visit here is a must. On your way to the Louvre and indeed in the shopping area below, there’s a few perfume shops that you could visit in preparation for when the book starts to venture into the world of perfumes itself…
The Places des Vosges is next for the thrill of standing in perhaps the most creative and inspiring square in the city so beloved of artists and painters. There’s plenty of places to sit and be inspired, not to mention the cafes dotted around the square and the odd perfume shop…
The perfume shop in the novel is located in Rue St Claude so you should head there for a sniff around. For the more glamourous shops, the Guerlain store on the Champs Elysees is the one which plays a role in the story too. Don’t forget Fouquet where she and M Tissot eat and where Rue St Claude where the famous M Migret shop is lurking…
Finally, for the shop of all shops, Grace visits the Galeries Lafayette and even discusses living under the great domed roof..in amongst the perfumes no less! For a less pricey option for perfumes, there the many Sephora shops and Marionnaud ones too.
Streetview Maps
F) France - Paris - Place des Vosges
G) France - Paris - Rue Christine
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
This is a book I’ve had on the TBR pile for a while now and I don’t know why I haven’t read it before. It’s set in Paris, has a dual time line mystery and is about French perfumes and the ornate shops in Paris
It’s more than this however – as it’s about how scents can influences a person’s life and help someone to move on. It’s a story of finding out about your past yet living in the present. When Grace discovers her apartment she is left in Place des Vosges, goes shopping in Galeries Lafayette and wanders to the old shop in Rue St Claude, the sense of Paris and the essence of the city was really brought to life in with the full five senses. Grace’s story is interesting but it’s Eva’s which really shines. Hers is the story you will remember like a perfume reminds you of a moment in time.
And what an eclectic and fascinating cast of characters! – Grace, Eva, Monsieur Thissot, Mr. Lambert, Rita, Valmont, Madame Zed, Madame Hiver, were themselves like ingredients of a perfume. When mixed together, the aroma of Paris and secrets wafted around each and every page.
There’s a lot of interesting facts about the art of perfumes and perfume making which was nice to learn and this on top of the overall twisty, set- across-the-decades mystery!
The only fact I didn’t like was the end! I wanted more as I might be imagining it differently and would love to know certain things in a epilogue. Shame there’s not a sequel to this book. I think there could have been. Another visit to perfumed Paris? Oh that would be nice. A lovely aromatic and immersive novel which was a joy to discover!
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