The story of a man who loves his craft (perfume making) and gives his love whole heartedly to everyone who comes within his purview is the crux of the book. Elle loves his job, he also loves the women who are/were in his life. Right now the focus is on his daughter.
The balance between the "old ways" and modernity, the transition that eventually has to take place when something is passed on between generations is a delicate one. Here we have a father whose entire life is dedicated to his craft and then the daughter who has to take on this mantle. Not easy for either party especially when both are strong willed passionate artists, each with distinctive traits and characteristics.
The story was very good. I like family stories - they somehow seem more at grips with actual life and then this book made you fall in love with Florence itself. I think the detail may have taken a bit of shine off the actual story, but Florence, Grasse and Italy were integral to the story and so it formed not just a backdrop but became part of the story.
Informative about the perfume industry and the environs and artists of Florence, this was a very good read.
I am a bit late in posting this. My apologies to the convenor of the tour. Thanks to the author and Laura Fabiani of Italy Book Tours for enabling me to participate in the tour.
This sounds lovely to me :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your detailed and candid review. You summarized the story and pulled out all the major threads beautifully. I agree I went overboard on some of the descriptions as I was writing them while in Florence and intent on having the reader experience the same sensations. Got carried away! Thanks again, such honesty is invaluable to a writer!
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