Book Review: The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi

Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing, March 28, 2023

Format: ebook

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

The final chapter in Alka Joshi’s New York Times bestselling Jaipur trilogy takes readers to 1970s Paris, where Radha’s budding career as a perfumer must compete with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past.

Paris, 1974. Radha is now thirty-two and living in Paris with her husband, Pierre, and their two daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago, when she was only a child herself, but she loves being a mother to her daughters, and she’s finally found her passion—the treasure trove of scents.

When her friend’s grandfather offered her a job at his parfumerie, she quickly discovered she had a talent—she could find the perfect fragrance for any customer who walked in the door. Now, ten years later, she’s working for a master perfumer, helping to design completely new fragrances for clients and building her career one scent at a time. She only wishes Pierre could understand her need to work. She feels his frustration, but she can’t give up this thing that drives her.

Tasked with her first major project, Radha travels to India, where she enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the courtesans of Agra—women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully managed world and threatening to destroy a vulnerable marriage.

My Review:

Read if you like: The Henna Artist

This book focuses on Lakshmi’s sister, Radha. I loved this character in the Henna Artist so it was so fun to really get to know her and get inside her head. She moved to Paris to get away from her past, but her past comes back to haunt her anyways. While in Paris, she works as a perfumist and I thought this was such a fun job!

Overall a really enjoyable read!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for the copy of the book.

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