The Perfume Lover: A Personal Story of Scent

by Denyse Beaulieu

`Why couldn’t I be a perfumer’s muse? I’ve come such a long way in the realm of scent. In fact, I was never really meant to poke my nose into it …’

The Perfume Lover by Denyse Beaulieu is an intimate journey into the mystery of scent.

What if the most beautiful night in your life inspired a fragrance?

Denyse Beaulieu is a respected fragrance writer; it is her world, her love, her life. When she was growing up, perfume was forbidden in her house, spurring a childhood curiosity that went on to become an intellectual and sensual passion.

It is this passion she pursued all the way to Paris, where she now lives, and entered the secretive world of the perfume industry. But little did she know that it would lead her to achieve a fragrance lover’s wildest dream …

When Denyse tells a famous perfumer of a sensual night spent in Seville under an orange tree in full blossom, wrapped in the arms of a beautiful young man, the story stirs his imagination and together they create a scent that captures the essence of that night. This is the story of that perfume.

As the unique creative collaboration unfolds, the perfume-in-progress conjures intimate memories, leading Beaulieu to make sense of her life through scents. Throughout, she weaves the evocative history of perfumery into her personal journey, in an intensely passionate voice: the masters and the masterpieces; the myths and the myth-busting, down to the molecular mysteries that weld our flesh to flowers…

The Perfume Lover is an unprecedented account of the creative process that goes into composing a fragrance, and a uniquely candid insider’s view into the world and history of fragrance.

Your world will never smell the same.

• ISBN13: 9780007411825
• Publish Date: 15 March 2012
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 January 2015
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Lianne]

I received a copy of The Perfume Lover from the GoodReads First Reads program. I don't know much about perfume so I greatly reading the chapters about the history and culture around the product, I learned a lot about it. However, I found the other personal aspects of her life that she included in this memoir not as interesting or as compelling; I was never quite sure how some of her personal stories were connected to her journey in creating the Séville à L'Aube. Overall, I recommend this novel if you're into cultural history or wish to learn more about beauty products like perfume.

My complete review of the novel was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/03/11/review-the-perfume-lover/