Kath here. We’re so pleased to share the news that valued contributor M.J. Rose’s latest book, The Book of Lost Fragrances, has released! When Therese and I met with M.J. last summer in NYC, she was deep in the throes of writing — and as soon as she described the premise to us, I knew it would be A Big Book, and one of the must-reads of 2012. It’s got swag: an epic storyline, suspense, mystery, moving backwards and forwards through time while lifting the veil on an ancient practice: making perfume.
Publisher’s Weekly calls it one of spring’s ten best books and “a deliciously sensual novel of paranormal suspense smoothly melds a perfume-scented quest to protect an ancient artifact with an ages-spanning romance.” It’s a Starbuck’s Book Club pick and a Pulpwood Queen’s pick for summer reading.
Intrigued? Check out the book trailer below. Then enjoy our Take 5 with M.J. Rose
Take Five: M.J. Rose and The Book of Lost Fragrances
Q: What’s the premise of your new book?
MJ: Here’s the write up – we spent such a long time on it – I think I should just give you the flap copy.
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’sEgypt and the terrors of revolutionaryFrance toTibet’s battle withChina and the glamour of modern-dayParis. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.
Q: What would you like people to know about the story itself? [Read more…]