Florence, Italy—1533: A young apprentice, René le Florentin,
is saved from execution by Catherine de Medici after he'd
been accused of poisoning his master. He travels with her to
France where he becomes her favored perfumer. Not only does
René know the art of mixing the most lavish and irresistible
fragrances, but he also knows a formula that has the
potential to reanimate the dead. In France, René finds his
fortune and learns the price of his freedom. Catherine has
many enemies and rivals, and René must create deadly poisons
for his Queen. Holding both life and death in his hands,
René can't foresee the very tragic and personal consequences
of his art.
Paris, France—The Present: Jac L'Etoile is trying to recover
from the death of her brother by finishing the project
Robbie had started before he fell ill. Her work as a
mythologist and with a family history as an exclusive, high-
end perfumers gives her the perfect tools to unlock the
mystery behind René le Florentin's work into reanimating a
dying breath. Her path leads her to Griffin North, a
linguist who was translating René's formula for Robbie.
Griffin is the only man Jac has every loved and the one man
she can never be with because she knows she'll bring him
death.
THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS by M.J. Rose delves into the
treacherous court life of Catherine de Medici and the
opulent world of the wealthy who will stop at nothing to
gain immortality. Let me say first how much I absolutely
love the title and cover for this novel. The title evokes
pain, love, compassion, grief, and ambition. It is the
perfect title for René's part of the story. The cover is
simply gorgeous bringing to mind seduction, death, and
opulence.
Unfortunately, the plot doesn't quite live up to the title.
Let me backtrack a little. The chapters told from René's
point of view are exceptional and compelling. The narrative
carries the sense of dread which increases the suspense and
conflict because René begins at the end. He's at his most
desperate moment and then reflects on how he came to this
point in his life where he must find the answer to
reanimating the dying breaths. His story is the perfect
balance of dread, hope, love, grief, and conflict. I would
have been perfectly happy just to have read his story.
Jac's chapters did not live up to either the title or René's
amazing story. For me, her character had nothing at the core
to create a driving force. She's an intelligent woman who
directs her own cable series searching for myths and their
origins, yet we see none of that strength or intelligence in
her decision making. Her actions and responses are all tied
to emotional intuitiveness. Being emotionally intuitive is
not a bad thing, but here it makes Jac a static character.
Her character doesn't feel like an active part of the story,
but rather one who is being swept up into the stories of
other, stronger characters.
THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS by M.J. Rose is part of her
Reincarnationist series. It can be read as a
stand-alone, which is how I read it. Maybe if I'd read the
"The Book of Lost Fragrances," also starring Jac and
Griffin, Jac's character would have seemed more rounded,
and I would have understood her character better and her
relationship with Griffin. Part of my disappointment could
be explained by the
hopes I'd built based solely upon the fantastic title.
THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS by M.J. Rose is an unbalanced
tale of grief, love, and ambition told from a perspective of
the powerful and elite of the past and the present. M.J.
Rose's prose is as always beautiful and evocative, and I
will continue to read more from her. I just don't recommend
THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS be your first.
An orphan named René le Florentin is plucked from poverty to
become Catherine de
Medici’s perfumer. Traveling with the young duchessina from
Italy to France, René
brings with him a cache of secret documents from the
monastery where he was trained:
recipes for exotic fragrances and potent medicines—and a
formula for an alchemic
process said to have the potential to reanimate the dead.
In France, René becomes not only the greatest perfumer in
the country, but also the
most dangerous, creating deadly poisons for his Queen to use
against her rivals. But
while mixing herbs and essences under the light of
flickering candles, René doesn’t
begin to imagine the tragic and personal consequences for
which his lethal potions
will be responsible.
Paris, France—The Present:
A renowned mythologist, Jac L’Etoile—trying to recover from
personal heartache by
throwing herself into her work—learns of the sixteenth-
century perfumer who may have
been working on an elixir that would unlock the secret to
immortality. She
becomesobsessed with René le Florentin’s work—particularly
when she discovers the
dying breaths he had collected during his lifetime.
Jac’s efforts put her in the path of her estranged lover,
Griffin North, a linguist
who has already begun translating René le Florentin’s
mysterious formula. Together
they confront an eccentric heiress in possession of a world-
class art collection, a
woman who has her own dark purpose for the elixir . . . for
which she believes the
ends will justify her deadly means.
This mesmerizing gothic tale zigzags from the violent days
of Catherine de Medici’s
court to twenty-first-century France. Fiery and lush, set
against deep, wild forests
and dimly lit chateaus, The Collector of Dying Breaths
illuminates the true path to
immortality: the legacies we leave behind.
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