Book Summary and Reviews of Scent of Triumph by Jan Moran

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WIldred

Scent of Triumph
A great book filled with history, perfume education, love and family. I read the book in 2 days it was a page turner for me.

FrenchVillage Jacqui

A novel of passion, strength and determination
The beautiful looking cover drew me in and I immediately found myself in a very engaging book with a storyline that made it very difficult to put down. Danielle Bretancourt is a very strong woman who is determined to do the best for her family despite the horrific and traumatic situations they find themselves in. Her story is set in France, Poland and America during the years of the Second World War where happiness is difficult when family is fighting against family, undercover war work has to come before family and death and destruction are never far away. Danielle’s escape is in her perfume work and her skill and determination means she has the ability to change her life through her work. It is the first book that has ever made my nose tingle, as I could almost smell the fragrance descriptions as I was reading it.

Danielle is torn between remaining in Europe to search for her young son who has disappeared in Poland or taking her remaining family to the safety of America and to a new life that must be built from scratch. Wherever she is she never gives up on her goals no matter how low she gets and she often puts her happiness second to making the right decisions for her family. There are men in her life and she is a passionate woman, but it seems that circumstance always puts the right man in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were many very moving parts to this book that made me cry.

This book is more than just a romance novel and would appeal to those who enjoy reading about the French perfume and fashion industries and those with an interest in historical fiction set during the 1930’s

Rivkah

Scent of Triumph by Jan Moran
An evocative historical romance about a young wife and mother who is also a perfumer and member of a famous family perfume house. The novel follows her through occupied France and Poland as WWII darkens the fortunes of her family, and on into the Golden Age of Hollywood, as she works to restore those fortunes. An intriguing blend of history, romance, and family saga, Scent of Fortune is well worth reading, not least for its evocation of character, place and history through the medium of fragrance and its impact on our memories.

Jeannew

Implausible Romance
This is the story of a French perfumer and her family in Europe in 1939-41. Everybody is attractive, rich and wonderfully kind and unprejudiced. Then bad things happen. Then the main character leaves for LA with the remains of her shattered family. She starts poor and ends up rich and fabulous. You can see the plot "twists" coming a mile away and I swear the main character has manic-depressive disorder because within 2 pages she goes from being thrilled about something to thinking she's made the worst decision of her life. While reading the book I was so aware of the author's presence she could have been in the room with me. I never felt involved with the characters and their situations. I felt the author was manipulating her characters as if they were puppets.

This review sounds so harsh and I'm sorry for that, but this is a very pedestrian novel and I was very disappointed in it.

KATHLEEN BIANCHI

Just a Romance
I was enticed to read this book by the cover and the description. It turned out not to be a historical novel of WWII as I expected but a Romance set during the time of WWII. Reading about Sofia, the grandmother, was inspiring. You would expect her to crumple due to her pampered background instead she was courageous. Danielle was a phenomenally talented hard working woman. So it was not surprising that she was able to use that talent in all her circumstances. It was wonderful how Nicky was able to turn into a leader of other children and avoid German's. Danielle's marriage to Max seemed realistic but her second marriage to Cameron did not nor did her long running affair with Jon. The book had too many sub-plots is made for an annoying read. Even finding Nicky towards the end of the book was tying up loose ends with a tidy bow. The whole book was fantastic and improbable. I usually read a book in a day and a half. This book took days because I kept putting it down. If it wasn't a Book Browse book I wouldn't have completed it. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Mal

Predictable
I was excited to read this book, however, my excitement diminished fairly quickly.

I enjoyed reading of Danielle's perfume lineage, her exceptional olfactory gift, her amazing intuition. I was taken with Sofia, her strength, her courage. Her presence was short lived but powerful and affecting. Reading of Nicky and his plight was emotional. The ravages of war clearly depicted.

The narrative was too dramatic for my taste and all predictable. Multiple subplots served as a distraction, most left frayed. I felt as if I was reading a arduous task to weave multiple books into one attempt at capturing a solid plot. Too much going on for my taste, bottom line. Every character has heavy issues, at every corner doom dwells. Implausible and overdone. I could not relate to Danielle at all in regards to Nicky's missing status. Danielle lacked emotion, her demeanor drove me nuts, her manner was less than vanilla, bland would be generous.

Simply a matter of taste and this particular book wasn't my cup of tea. The majority will disagree and find Moran's effort exceptional. Admittedly I am in the minority.