The Perfumist of Paris - (Jaipur Trilogy) by Alka Joshi

Thanks to the Book Club Cookbook GalleyMatch Program & HarperCollins/MiraBooks publishers for an advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own. This is the final novel in the Jaipur trilogy, of which I have read the other two. And if you have a choice, do read the books in chronological order. But if you start with this one the author has provided quite a bit of background and explanation so that you can easily feel comfortable just diving in. And I’m sure you will want to read the other two after turning the last page of “The Perfumist of Paris,” which is a captivating chronicle of family, the perfume industry, and women’s independence. The story begins in 1974 Paris with 32-year-old Radha, her husband Pierre, and their two young daughters. Radha is building her career designing new fragrances at a high-end perfumerie. As part of her first major project, she is given the opportunity to travel to her home country of India to locate elusive scent ingredients that will enable her to create unique fragrances. While their marriage looks fine from the outside, Pierre is not supportive of Radha’s work. There is also friction between Radha and her mother-in-law, who helps with the girls in between nannies. While in India, Radha learns her biggest secret threatens to upend her world – the son she had at thirteen is coming to Paris to find her. Joshi skillfully inserts themes of women taking charge of their lives with intriguing plot elements and growing character development. She describes Radha’s increasing personal awareness as “the idea that we women lose track of ourselves. Lakshmi always said henna was a way for a woman to find a part of herself she may have mislaid. Sheela said she wanted to bring the forgotten women back to life because while their painted images were famous, they themselves were invisible, they’d been discarded, like candy wrappers tossed on the ground. Is that erasure of us something other people do to us or do we women do it to ourselves?” The novel takes a while to get going, due to a lot of backstory and description, but I encourage you to keep reading because at about the halfway point the plot really takes off. At that juncture I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn’t reading and waiting impatiently to be able to get back to it. In addition to the dramatic developments, I enjoyed learning about the perfume industry as well as the detailed descriptions of Indian and French culture in the 1970s. And the atmosphere of India in particular is vividly described with all its scents, sounds, scenery, customs, and food. Despite the slow start, this was an enjoyable read with consistent themes of women’s advancing independence and ambition. The satisfying ending offers the possibility of another book focusing on these engaging characters, which is welcome news for fans of The Jaipur Trilogy.