Fiona McIntosh - The Perfumer's Secret

On the eve of the First World War, Fleurette, the only daughter of the wealthy Delacroix perfume house, is being forced to marry a man she loathes, Aimery De Lasset, head of the pre-eminent perfume manufacturer in France. It is only the cathedral bells tolling the rally to the frontlines on her wedding night that save her from sharing his bed.
When she receives a letter from Aimery's estranged brother warning against their union, Fleurette is left with the burden of a terrible secret. It is one that has the power to shatter the two families and their perfume empires once and for all.



Comment: I brought this book from the library the last time I was there. I was not really looking for it, but since it was available, I thought why not, hoping this would be an interesting story set during WWI, when WWII is a lot more popular in terms of setting.

In this book we meet Fleurette, a young woman who, when the story starts, is about to be married to a man she doesn't really like but since he is of an important family that also produces perfumes, her older brother thought it would be a good idea for them to marry, to unite the power of the two families as perfumers of excellence.

However, since WWI starts precisely at the moment and all the men of the area have to leave, the marriage isn't consummated which happens to be something quite important, considering the secret the brother of her newly acquired husband is about to tell her. How will things be after the men return from war? How can Fleurette deal with the repercussions of what the secret will mean to the family? And how can she resist the fact her husband's brother is much more in tune with what she always imagined a husband should be?

I actually had the notion this author wrote fantasy. I checked and she did but more recently her releases have been more in the romantic historical field. I was quite surprised but since these days I'm not as devoted to pure fantasy as I was in the past, I imagined this would be a good way to "test" the author's writing voice and to see if I'd like to read more things by her. I'm still debating that...

This story started out well. I think the emotions and the situation depicted, the time in which the story was set, it all made it understandable why the characters acted a little stiff and why there was no obvious connection between the couple, so recently married. I was looking for to see how being away from her husband would influence Fleurette's behavior, since it was rather obvious she was to fall in love with his brother Sebastian. We are even told Fleurette was never in love.

In general, I'd also say none of the characters is really developed beyond the basics and the expected. Not very well developed nor with enough characterization layers for me.

It was also interesting to have so many references to the art of creating perfumes and how the different elements are blended together... although this information, inserted in the narrative, was not as detailed as perfume lovers might like. However, in the end of the story there is a note by the author on how she did her research and how she visited places to see live how the plants/flowers are taken care of before being used. This was quite interesting but, again, it's just superficial information so those who want to know more can look for it, those who don't don't feel overwhelmed by details.

The problems, for me, begin as the story moves along. The arrival of the husband's brother and the secret he brings turn things into quite a drama fest. This wouldn't be so negative if the characters were easy to connect with but the way things are written makes it look as if they are quite clichéd in some of their behavior. Then the secret affects people's lives, who they can be with and marry, how the families could be seen by outsiders, and the way the author chose to move things along was to simply turn the discovery of the secret into a melodramatic confrontation and the solution was just...silly, in my opinion.

The end seems to intend to show us the main couple, Fleurette and Sebastian, have their HEA, the perfume business doesn't change at all in the big scheme of things which leads me to conclude this was just average and not that captivating, overall. Some details were interesting but nothing so amazing that would make me runt o read more by the author.

Grade: 6/10