Review: The Secret Ways of Perfume by Cristina Caboni

The Secret Ways of Perfume

by Cristina Caboni

Publisher: Berkley NAL

Pages: 416

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Ten-year-old Elena lives in Florence with her cold and distant perfumier grandmother. Only when enveloped in aromas does Elena feel at home, and she has nurtured a unique gift: the ability to decipher the ingredients of a perfume, and experience the feelings it evokes.

Years later, Elena’s talent leads her to the cobbled streets of Paris. There she rediscovers an old, secret family perfume recipe that no other perfumier has been able to replicate.

As Elena begins to open her heart to new adventures she meets a man who is guarding his own secrets. From France’s sun-drenched lavender fields to the ancient heart of Italy, together they will follow a path of secret scents, distant memories and new hopes . . .

Kritters Thoughts:  Elena comes from a long line of ladies who have devoted their lives to the perfume world.  She ran away from that world and thought the man she was with would help her build a new life; instead he is almost repeating her childhood and she must go to Paris to find a new path.  

The one thing that I didn't love about this book was the amount of time spent on Monique, Elena's best friends life.  I felt as though there were a few spots where I could have read less of her story because it didn't affect Elena's story; I just felt like it was too much and I wish it had been left out a little.

Beyond that, I loved it.  I have read quite a few books at this point about perfume and there were a few times in those books that they felt so technical and I lost the story - NOT so in this one.  Of course there were technical moments, but they didn't interrupt the narrative, but instead added to it at the right times.  

So add this one to your list of great perfume novels.  


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley NAL.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.