THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS by Alka Joshi is the third book in the Jaipur Trilogy. I have read all three and can safely say this can be read as a standalone--relevant information is given for a new reader to understand the context of the characters and certain nuances.
However, because all three books are out, I highly suggest binge-reading them for a wonderful journey of stories you'll enjoy. These are, without doubt, some of the better, India-set stories I've read so far.
THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS follows Radha, an Indian fallen Brahmin who looks anything but a typical Indian who is married to Pierre and living in Paris. Independent and with a stubborn streak in her nature Radha doesn't want to be just a housewife and soon falls into and then pursues a career in the perfume industry. Even the birth of her two girls doesn't stop her career much to Pierre's dismay.
Soon her fragrant pursuits bring Radha back to India and face-to-face with part of her elder sister's past. As Radha's career and passion are falling into place, the truth and motivation of her marriage to Pierre are clearer to her.
When Radha comes to India for a flying work visit she gets more than she bargains for, while her work is a success personally she is forced to face her past.
As the past unravels and Radha faces a choice whether to wither away from being just a housewife and mother or to pursue the path leading to becoming the Perfumist of Paris!
I greatly enjoyed that the majority of the characters are Indian and their portrayal is not cliched. They are elegant, strong, stubborn, and not what you expect them to be, especially in a foreign life setting.
Radha is stubborn, of independent thought, and impulsive, yet she is likable. Her clarity of thought, how she deals with her mistakes, and her learnings are well portrayed.
The rest of the characters--Radha's sister, adopted brother, and people from her past in India--are always exciting to catch up with recurring characters and knowing what's happening with them.
I loved the India that was shown in this book and the whole series; it is elegant, real, and something we have lost to modern times. It is not at all gaudy and filled with street animals, exaggerated colors, and people. The setting is truly exotic and charming to me, an Indian, too.
There is a story at the heart of all three books; one of rising from trials, triumph, making a life filled with passion, and people who provide you with warmth, love, and friendship. It is a story of enduring hardships yet remaining true to yourself. Of achieving what you set out to and taking in the curve balls life threw you without making a mess of yourself or losing your dignity.
I'd suggest if you want to read a saga and India of the early decades after Independence interests you , pick up Alka Joshi's Jaipur Trilogy today and read them all.
From the author of Reese's Book Club Pick The Henna Artist, the final chapter in Alka Joshi’s New York Times bestselling Jaipur trilogy takes readers to 1970s Paris, where Radha’s budding career as a perfumer must compete with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past.
The year is 1974. Radha is now living in Paris with her husband, Pierre, and their two daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago, when she was only a child herself, but she loves being a mother to her daughters, and she’s finally found her passion—the treasure trove of scents.
She has an exciting and challenging position working for a master perfumer, helping to design completely new fragrances for clients and building her career one scent at a time. She only wishes Pierre could understand her need to work. She feels his frustration, but she can’t give up this thing that drives her.
Tasked with her first major project, Radha travels to India, where she enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the courtesans of Agra—women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully managed world and threatening to destroy a vulnerable marriage.
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