The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro- I knew nothing about this book before starting it. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up loving this novel. Definitely one of my favorites for 2013! 

The year is 1955 and Grace Monroe is newly married to an ambitious man in a prominent London social circle. Out of the blue Grace receives a message that she’s received an inheritance from Eva d’ Orsey, a woman from Paris. She has no idea who Eva is or why she’s left her fortune to Grace. 

Grace travels to Paris to learn about Eva and find out why she’s the benefactor of Eva’s wealth. There she discovers an old abandoned perfume shop that might hold some clues as to the woman Eva once was. In figuring out Eva’s life, Grace also confronts issues in her own existence that have been plaguing her. 

Alternating between Grace’s story in the 1950’s to Eva’s in the 1920’s, The Perfume Collector is a gripping tale that is brilliantly told. 

Also worth your time to read is Stella Bain by Anita Shreve. During World War I, a young woman wakes up in a battlefield hospital, not knowing who she is or where she’s from. 

Stella, as she calls herself, wanders around and ends up in the garden of a surgeon and his wife. The doctor takes her in and cares for her, transfixed by the idea that she’s suffering from some kind of amnesia. He begins to help her try to search for clues as to her identity. 

This novel takes the reader on a journey from England to America and back again as we discover who Stella was and what happened to lead her to Europe.