The Secret History of No. 5: The Intimate History of the World’s Most Famous Perfume, by Tilar J. Mazzeo. For 90 years, Chanel No. 5’s been the world’s best-known and bestselling fragrance – but the story behind it is more complicated than is often let on… Chanel-o-philes will want to add this to their bookshelf: it’s part-biography of ‘Mademoiselle’ (whose own extraordinary story is interwoven with that of No. 5), and part an exploration of the countless facets of the fragrance immortalised by Marilyn Monroe as ‘the only thing I wear to bed’, and by Andy Warhol in the silkscreen which appears on this book’s cover. Throw in a bit of information on the art of perfumery itself, and what you have is a book that made many Goodreads reviewers want to go out and buy a bottle itself.
***
At Amazon
