Title: The Scent of You
Author: Maggie Alderson
Published: April 1st 2017
Publisher: Harper Collins Books
Pages: 512
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Women’s Fiction
RRP: $32.99
Rating: 3.5 stars
Perfume blogger Polly is in crisis. Will her husband’s absence break her … or make her? A novel of perfumes, exploring life, love, loss and forgiveness – Maggie Alderson’s new bestseller.
Are you still married if you haven’t seen your husband for months?
Polly’s life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother – still modelling at eighty-five – is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes.
As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going – Shirlee, the loudmouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old flame from university.
And while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, Polly knows she can’t keep reality at bay forever. Eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths: about her husband, herself and who she really wants to be.
My review:A great deal of time has passed since I last read a Maggie Alderson book but the promise of a story focussed on perfume, a subject that intrigues me, was enough to entice me to read Alderson’s tenth novel, The Scent of You.
The Scent of You follows the life of Polly, a happily married woman in her fifties, with two grown up children who have flown the nest and are now at university. Polly has a double career. She is a yoga teacher and a perfume blogger. Life has been easy on Polly until just before Christmas her husband Dave drops a bombshell. He informs Polly he needs time out from their marriage and family for reasons unknown. Dave also doesn’t want to be contacted until he is ready. This completely knocks Polly sideways, as she thought her marriage rock solid. To make matters worse, Dave has also cut off his two children Clemmie and Lucas, which astounds Polly. Receiving a reality check late in life is not easy for Polly, but she manages with the help of a few new friends. These include one of her students in her yoga class Shirlee, a secretive new perfumer Guy and old flame Edward (nicknamed Chum) from her university days. Each of these characters, as well as Polly’s glamorous eighty five year old mother Daphne, helps her through this tough time in her life. Although Polly has been served a rough deal by her husband Dave, she still wants to find and help him through this mid-life crisis. Will they be able to make amends?
The Scent of You was a light, entertaining and intriguing read, which I enjoyed. I associate Maggie Alderson with the chick lit genre and although The Scent of You falls into this category, it offers the reader a little more. Intertwining a background of perfume within the narrative was interesting. Alderson has obviously embarked on a great deal of research on perfumery to pad out this novel. I found it enlightening to read about the main character Polly’s keen nose for scent and how she relates certain scents to specific memories. Polly is also adept in linking experiences to specific scents, this was quite the eye opener, as I realised how ill versed I am in perfumes! Alderson also goes into the history, as well as the mechanics of perfumery, highlighting the various levels of scents. I found these sections of the narrative a great learning experience.
The central reason why my eyes stayed glued to this novel was the mystery involving the sudden exit of the main character Polly’s husband from their marriage, family and life together. Polly was a likeable character from the beginning and her predicament garnered much sympathy from me as the novel progressed. I had all sorts of ideas running through my head about what the cause was for Dave’s disappearance. When I eventually found out, it took me by surprise, it was a little darker than I expected from Alderson.
There is a great selection of characters in The Scent of You. It is good to see a mature lead at the forefront of this novel. Polly’s journey is one I enjoyed following and I am sure other readers will find her both likeable and relatable. There are some larger than life characters that support Polly, who is pretty unobtrusive overall. Polly’s yoga student friend Shirlee is a loud but supportive character. Aspiring perfumer Guy adds intrigue to the novel as his character is not quite so clear cut. Polly’s old uni pal Chum provides a sense of nostalgia for Polly and a possible love interest – if she is ready to move on from Dave. Finally, there is Polly’s mother Daphne, a glamorous ex model who is unafraid to share her thoughts with others. Daphne was certainly a larger than life character, showing us how age is no barrier.
Whilst the narrative focus of The Scent of You does lean towards perfume, it is a story of family and relationships. The Scent of You could also be classed as a mature woman’s coming of age story, examining how a woman is forced to find a new life and friends when her world is ripped apart. I really enjoyed the perfume blog entries that were included in this book, it gave us an insight into the world of perfume and Polly’s innermost thoughts. I also liked the way the book was structured, in a time line, with chapters indicating the date so we know how much time has passed since Dave’s departure. On the whole, I found The Scent of You an easy read, it did lag a little in the middle section of the novel and I did think that overall the book was slightly too lengthy. It did pick up pace wise towards the close, when Dave’s big secret was revealed and the characters are forced to deal with the aftermath.
Scent and life are married together nicely in this novel by Australian author Maggie Alderson. The Scent of You is a fresh women’s fiction tale that is full of heart.
The Scent of You by Maggie Alderson was published in April 2017 by Harper Collins Books Australia. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of The Scent of You, Maggie Alderson, visit here.
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