#SuspenseMonday
Florence, Italyβ1533:
An orphan named RenΓ© le Florentin is plucked from poverty to
become Catherine de
Mediciβs perfumer. Traveling with the young duchessina from
Italy to France, RenΓ©
brings with him a cache of secret documents from the
monastery where he was trained:
recipes for exotic fraΒgrances and potent medicinesβand a
formula for an alchemic
process said to have the potenΒtial to reanimate the dead.
In France, RenΓ© 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, RenΓ© doesnβt
begin to imagΒine the tragic and personal consequences for
which his lethal potions
will be responsible.
Paris, FranceβThe Present:
A renowned mythologist, Jac LβEtoileβtrying to recover from
personal heartache by
throwΒing herself into her workβlearns of the sixteenth-
century perfumer who may have
been working on an elixir that would unlock the secret to
immortality. She
becomesobsessed with RenΓ© le Florentinβs workβparticularly
when she discovers the
dying breaths he had collected during his lifetime.
Jacβs efforts put her in the path of her estranged lover,
Griffin North, a linguist
who has already begun translating RenΓ© le FloΒrentinβs
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 Mediciβs
court to twenty-first-century France. Fiery and lush, set
against deep, wild forests
and dimly lit chaΒteaus, The Collector of Dying Breaths
illuminates the true path to
immortality: the legacies we leave behind.
Start Reading THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS Now
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