Books that captivate with their exquisite prose and unforgettable storytelling. Perfect for readers who appreciate the art of language.
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
Therese Anne Fowler, 2013
384 pp.
Book Review by Molly Lundquist
August, 2013
She began as an appendage to her famous husband, his muse and his mainstay. Over time she evolved into a creative and productive soul in her own right.
This is the Zelda Fitzgerald we meet in Therese Fowler's mesmerizing fictional biography. Using prior research, diaries, and original letters, Fowler offers a sympathetic version—perhaps overly so—of Zelda's infamous rise and fall. And guess what? It was all Scott's fault.
The Perfume Collector
Kathleen Tessaro, 2013
464 pp.
June, 2013
Reading this lovely novel, it's hard not to think of The Language of Flowers. The similarities are thematic: both are coming-of-age stories—and where one uses flowers, the other uses perfume as a gateway to self-knowledge.
In 1955, Londoner Grace Munroe learns she has inherited a sizable estate from Eva D'Orsey, a Frenchwoman. Yet Grace has no idea who Eva is, let alone why she left Grace her money.
The Book of Lost Fragrances
M.J. Rose, 2012
384 pp.
June, 2013
M.J. Rose is a mesmeric storyteller, combining history and science with metaphysics, mystery, and romance—then fitting it all into a framework of suspense. The Book Lost of Fragrances, fourth in Rose's reincarnation series, and written in her accomplished prose, contains all the right elements.
The novel opens in 1789, Egypt, where young perfumer Giles L'Etoile finds himself part of a French team prying open an ancient funeral crypt. Once inside, the entire team is transfixed, literally, by a powerful fragrance Giles can't identify.
The Emperor of Scent: A True Story of Perfume and Obsession
and the Last Mystery of the Senses
Chandler Burr, 2003
352 pp.
Book Review by Molly Lundquist
June, 2013
Chandler Burr has fashioned this nonfiction work, a scientific examination of human smell, into a near novel. Despite charts, graphs—and lengthy disquisitions on isotopes—he's written a gripping, very human narrative.
The hero of his story is Lucca Turin, a brilliant, charismatic, often combative biologist, who has challenged scientific thinking about how our noses actually work. Given our knowledge of biology, according to Turin, human smell should be impossible: "we actually shouldn't be able to smell at all." That mystery is at the heart of this book.
The Accursed
Joyce Carol Oates, 2013
688 pp.
Book Review by Molly Lundquist
May, 2013
Over the past number of years, I'd grown wary of Joyce Carol Oates—with her characters and plots bordering on the grotesque. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up The Accursed.
Well, here again are her usual grotesqueries, this time placed in a historical context, with a gothic setting, and fantasy-thriller plotline—and all of it so mesmerizing it was difficult to put the book down.