Check out our Most Anticipated Books for 2025

Book Summary and Reviews of The Book of Lost Fragrances by M. J. Rose

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M. J. Rose

The Book of Lost Fragrances

A Novel of Suspense

by M. J. Rose

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Mar 2012, 384 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra - and lost for 2,000 years. 

Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances - and of her mother's suicide - she moved to America. Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it's financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing - leaving a dead body in his wake - Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream infused perfume?

The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. "Deliciously sensual... Rose imbues her characters with rich internal lives in a complex plot that races to a satisfying finish." - Publishers Weekly

"Rose's fourth volume in the Reincarnationist series... smoothly blends historical events, compelling characters, and international intrigue into an absorbing and thrilling ride through the centuries." - Library Journal

"Although cynics would say that the convoluted plot is built on coincidence, Rose’s characters repeatedly preach that coincidence does not exist; maybe not, but here’s proof that claptrap does." - Kirkus

"Clever, with beguiling characters, a wonderful mixture of suspense and pace and good old fashioned storytelling." - New York Times Bestseller, Kate Mosse

"A simmering brew that mingles the erotic sensuality of Patrick Suskind's Perfume with the dark and timeless obsessions of Rider Haggard's classic, She. M.J. Rose has once again again dipped into the deep flask of history and brought those rich aromas of the past back to life through the eyes of Jac L'Etoile, a woman who has mastered the scent of conflict, passion and danger." - New York Times bestselling author Katherine Neville

"The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose is an amazing novel, an utterly engrossing thriller that weaves together reincarnation, ancient Egypt, international intrigue, and a lost book of fragrances. Elegantly written, with unforgettable characters and flawlessly realized international settings, here is a novel that will keep you up all night - and leave you with powerful feelings of revelation, wonder, and the infinitude of human possibility." - New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston

"A bewitching brew of history and suspense, as well as a deeply felt love story that transcends time, The Book of Lost Fragrances had me spellbound from the very beginning, taking me from Ancient Egypt to Napoleonic France to the modern day. This is a book full of delicious surprises, superb research, and brilliantly drawn characters that will live on in your heart long after you turn the last page." - Anne Fortier, author of Juliet

This information about The Book of Lost Fragrances was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Stephanie

Intriguing mystery and characters and history together
This is the first book I read by MJ Rose and I truly enjoyed this from cover to cover. I loved the weaving of the stories with the contemporary characters that had continued centuries of family tradition in the perfumurie business.How fun and interesting to learn all that goes into creating the beautiful scents that we enjoy today; the historical aspects of the perfume business were enlightening. I have visited Paris before and loved being transported back there again. A very intriguing read and excellent mystery.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

M. J. Rose Author Biography

M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother's favorite books before she was allowed. She believes mystery and magic are all around us but we are too often too busy to notice... Books that exaggerate mystery and magic draw attention to it and remind us to look for it and revel in it.

Rose is a New York Times, Wall St. Journal and USAToday bestseller as well as an international best seller. She has published more than nineteen novels and 3 books on marketing. She has been published in more than 30 countries and sold over 1.5 million books. The Fox TV show Past Lives was based on Rose's novel, The Reincarnationist.

Rose is a founding member of International ...

... Full Biography
Link to M. J. Rose's Website

Other books by M. J. Rose at BookBrowse
  • Tiffany Blues jacket

14 more...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more thrillers...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Book of George
    The Book of George
    by Kate Greathead
    The premise of The Book of George, the witty, highly entertaining new novel from Kate Greathead, is ...
  • Book Jacket: The Sequel
    The Sequel
    by Jean Hanff Korelitz
    In Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Sequel, Anna Williams-Bonner, the wife of recently deceased author ...
  • Book Jacket: My Good Bright Wolf
    My Good Bright Wolf
    by Sarah Moss
    Sarah Moss has been afflicted with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa since her pre-teen years but...
  • Book Jacket
    Canoes
    by Maylis De Kerangal
    The short stories in Maylis de Kerangal's new collection, Canoes, translated from the French by ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Happiness belongs to the self sufficient

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

X M T S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.