Review of "The Perfumist of Paris: The Henna Artist #3" by Alka Joshi

This is the conclusion of the trilogy whose first two books are The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. I strongly recommend reading the books in order.

The main characters in the trilogy are two sisters named Lakshsmi and Radha, both of whom rebel against traditional Indian roles for women. In 'The Henna Artist,' set in the mid-1950s, Lakshmi runs away from an abusive husband and becomes a henna artist and an expert in the use of spices, herbs, plants, potions, and teas to heal wounds, treat illnesses, and address other concerns.



Due to a confluence of circumstances Lakshmi takes in her 13-year-old sister Radha, whose teenage behavior gets her into trouble.



The siblings' story and that of other protagonists continues in 'The Secret Keeper of Jaipur', which takes place in the late 1960s.

*****

In 'The Perfumist of Paris', which is set in 1974, Radha - who's now thirty-two - is living in France with her husband Pierre and their daughters, seven-year-old Asha and nine-year-old Shanti.





Radha has a talent for creating scents, and is the assistant to master perfumist Delphine at 'The House of Yves' in Paris.



Radha's architect husband Pierre would prefer that Radha stay home to be a full-time wife and mother, but he tolerates Radha's working without making too much fuss.



Radha's mother-in-law Florence, a difficult opinionated woman, is decidedly cool towards Radha and her Indian culture. Nevertheless Florence loves her grandchildren, and takes care of Asha and Shanti when Radha is at work.



Because Radha is so talented with scents, a client of the perfumery gives Radha the opportunity to create a fragrance inspired by Edouard Manet's painting 'Olympia.' The client plans to distribute perfumes evoked by women in famous paintings.


Edouard Manet's 'Olympia'

To create the 'Olympia' perfume Radha must take a trip to India to source scents. Radha meets her sister Lakshsmi in Jaipur, and the two women visit the courtesans of Agra, who are experts in the use of scents to attract and seduce men.



Radha finds the perfect ingredient for the 'Olympia' perfume and returns to Paris where an unexpected person - who could imperil Radha's marriage - awaits. The surprise also leads to tension between Radha and her best friend Mathilde, who's hurt by Radha's secrecy.

To add to Radha's problems, there's skullduggery afoot at 'The House of Yves', and Radha's possible promotion to master perfumist is imperiled.



For me 'The Perfumist of Paris' is the least successful book in the trilogy. The plot is too simple; the crises are resolved too easily to create much tension; and some important events are predictable and cliché. Still, I was happy to catch up with the characters from previous books, and I like the glimpses of Indian customs and food, like the chole (chickpea curry) prepared by Radha and her daughters. (Recipe included in the book.)


Chole

Some of my favorite parts of the novel are the descriptions of the scents. The fragrances were carefully researched by the author Alka Joshi, who was inspired by some of her childhood experiences. In an interview, Joshi observes, "The fragrances I grew up with....were the scents of my native India: the jasmine garlands by mother threaded through her braid; the rosewater betel nut paans the chaiwalla [tea sellers] chewed. They were the scents of vetiver window screens hung in the heat of a Rajasthani summer, my auntie’s favorite sandalwood snuff, the rickshaw driver’s coconut hair oil. These scents were soothing to me, a reminder of where I came from." Joshi studied scents and their uses, and became something of an expert for the book.



Though this novel wasn't quite as good as the others in the trilogy, I highly recommend the books, which have memorable characters and a compelling story line.

Rating: 3.5 stars