Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind. Wonderfully readable, compelling and sinister all at once, this novel – later made into a movie starring Ben Whishaw – is probably the most successful ever to turn ‘words’ into ‘smells’, in fiction, recreating the world of 18th Century France in all its beauty, horrors and downright fetid odors. A must-read for the perfume-lover (although probably not late on a dark night when you’re alone). Note: At the time the film was produced, Thierry Mugler produced just 300 coffrets of fragrances created to evoke different smells from the book, with names like Baby, Paris 1738, Aterlier Grimal, Boutique Baldini, Virgin Number One, Orgie – and so on. The ultimate collector’s item – and you can read more, terrific reviews at The Scented Salamander and Boisdejasmin
*****
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