What do you think?
Rate this book
The Scent of You
Perfume blogger Polly is in crisis. Will her husband's absence break her ... or make her? A novel of perfumes, exploring life, love, loss and forgiveness - Maggie Alderson's new bestseller.
Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months?
Polly's life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother - still modelling at eighty-five - is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes.
As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going - Shirlee, the loudmouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old flame from university.
And while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, Polly knows she can't keep reality at bay forever. Eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths: about her husband, herself and who she really wants to be.
Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months?
Polly's life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother - still modelling at eighty-five - is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes.
As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going - Shirlee, the loudmouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old flame from university.
And while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, Polly knows she can't keep reality at bay forever. Eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths: about her husband, herself and who she really wants to be.
512 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
116 people are currently reading
511 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Alderson
35 books297 followersMaggie Alderson is a British-Australian author (that’s how I’m supposed to write it, but I’m not very good at talking about myself in the third person, so I’m going to can it).
I was born in London, brought up in rural Staffordshire, and educated at the University of St Andrews - and then at the University of Life, Sydney campus.
I spent many years covering the fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London etc which is the best people watching ever (I had to remind myself to look at the models…).
An obsessed bookworm since childhood, all I wanted to do from the age of six was write books. I also hoovered up every magazine and newspaper I could lay my hands on and by the time I was a teenager was determined to edit a magazine and be a newspaper columnist.
I have edited five magazines (including British ELLE) and my Style Notes column ran in the Good Weekend colour supplement for twelve years, as well as being syndicated to The Times.
My first novel Pants on Fire was published in 2000 and was a bestseller in the UK and Australia. I’ve written eight more novels since, which have been translated into many languages.
I’ve also published four collections of my columns and a children’s book called Evangeline, the Wish Keeper’s Helper, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Award in Australia.
My latest novel is called The Scent of You and is the story of perfume blogger Polly, facing up to a crisis in her marriage – and her sense of who she is - told through a filter of her obsession with perfumes (and also featuring very well dressed, seriously damaged, red-hot men, which are my speciality).
The book was inspired by attending perfume events in London and realising just how many fascinating people there are in that world (and a fair few brilliant nutters).
You can read my heroine's blog fragrantcloud.net
I was born in London, brought up in rural Staffordshire, and educated at the University of St Andrews - and then at the University of Life, Sydney campus.
I spent many years covering the fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London etc which is the best people watching ever (I had to remind myself to look at the models…).
An obsessed bookworm since childhood, all I wanted to do from the age of six was write books. I also hoovered up every magazine and newspaper I could lay my hands on and by the time I was a teenager was determined to edit a magazine and be a newspaper columnist.
I have edited five magazines (including British ELLE) and my Style Notes column ran in the Good Weekend colour supplement for twelve years, as well as being syndicated to The Times.
My first novel Pants on Fire was published in 2000 and was a bestseller in the UK and Australia. I’ve written eight more novels since, which have been translated into many languages.
I’ve also published four collections of my columns and a children’s book called Evangeline, the Wish Keeper’s Helper, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Award in Australia.
My latest novel is called The Scent of You and is the story of perfume blogger Polly, facing up to a crisis in her marriage – and her sense of who she is - told through a filter of her obsession with perfumes (and also featuring very well dressed, seriously damaged, red-hot men, which are my speciality).
The book was inspired by attending perfume events in London and realising just how many fascinating people there are in that world (and a fair few brilliant nutters).
You can read my heroine's blog fragrantcloud.net
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
May 6, 2025
EXCERPT: Polly stood outside her own front door, nervous even to put her key in the lock. What if David was still in there? What if he wasn't? She didn't know which would be worse.
Telling herself to get a grip, she opened it quickly, stepped inside and closed it noisily behind her. If he was there, she wanted him to know she was back.
She leaned against the back of the door, cocking her ears to listen. Nothing.
'Hello?' she called out, her heart pounding with anxiety. 'David?'
There was no reply. The house felt empty, completely still, but she couldn't relax. Walking slowly, feeling as though she were in the kind of film where an axe murderer could jump out at any moment, she went through to the kitchen, looking into the sitting and dining rooms on the way. He wasn't there.
Then she checked every part of the house - even the broom cupboard and under the stairs - until she was certain he wasn't inside, but she still felt uneasy. A sense of intrusion, that was what it was, she realised. Something like the violation people feel when they've been burgled.
It was so horrible and so bizarre to feel like that about her own husband that Polly found herself face down on the bed, heaving with painful, wracking sobs. How had they got to this place? Could they ever return to normal when he came back? If he came back?
ABOUT 'THE SCENT OF YOU': Perfume blogger Polly is in crisis. Will her husband's absence break her ... or make her?
Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months?
Polly's life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother - still modelling at eighty-five - is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes.
As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going - Shirlee, the loudmouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old flame from university.
And while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, Polly knows she can't keep reality at bay forever. Eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths: about her husband, herself and who she really wants to be.
MY THOUGHTS: The Scent of You is my first read by Maggie Alderson and I can't believe what I have been missing.
I was immediately drawn into the plot which went in a very different direction to what I was anticipating and was so much better for that. The characters are so well depicted that I could hear them and felt like they were in the room with me. And the perfumes . . . I do wish that we had books capable of exuding the scents of what is being written about. So many perfumes and so many memories . . . My mother wore both Anais, Anais and Lily of the Valley. I loved the association of different perfumes with the events in Polly's life and the wonderful story of her mother who, even now in her 80's, is still a sought-after model.
Polly (Hippolyta) is the main character in this tale. I would love her and her 'Yoga Bears' as friends, although Shirlee can get a bit OTT if not restrained. But back to Polly who is coping with her husband's sudden alienation of not only herself, but their two children. He doesn't want to see or hear from any of them, won't tell them why and demands that they tell no one he has left. A wee bit odd, wouldn't you say? I had several scenarios in mind, but none of them came close to the rather shocking truth.
The Scent of You is a longish book at a little over 500 pages, but one I found difficult to put down. It is a lovely entertaining and intriguing read and definitely won't be the only book I read by this author.
#TheScentofYou @WaitomoDistrictLibrary
MEET THE AUTHOR: Maggie Alderson is a British-Australian author (that’s how I’m supposed to write it, but I’m not very good at talking about myself in the third person, so I’m going to can it).
I was born in London, brought up in rural Staffordshire, and educated at the University of St Andrews - and then at the University of Life, Sydney campus.
I spent many years covering the fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London etc which is the best people watching ever (I had to remind myself to look at the models…).
An obsessed bookworm since childhood, all I wanted to do from the age of six was write books. So, here I am . . .
Telling herself to get a grip, she opened it quickly, stepped inside and closed it noisily behind her. If he was there, she wanted him to know she was back.
She leaned against the back of the door, cocking her ears to listen. Nothing.
'Hello?' she called out, her heart pounding with anxiety. 'David?'
There was no reply. The house felt empty, completely still, but she couldn't relax. Walking slowly, feeling as though she were in the kind of film where an axe murderer could jump out at any moment, she went through to the kitchen, looking into the sitting and dining rooms on the way. He wasn't there.
Then she checked every part of the house - even the broom cupboard and under the stairs - until she was certain he wasn't inside, but she still felt uneasy. A sense of intrusion, that was what it was, she realised. Something like the violation people feel when they've been burgled.
It was so horrible and so bizarre to feel like that about her own husband that Polly found herself face down on the bed, heaving with painful, wracking sobs. How had they got to this place? Could they ever return to normal when he came back? If he came back?
ABOUT 'THE SCENT OF YOU': Perfume blogger Polly is in crisis. Will her husband's absence break her ... or make her?
Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months?
Polly's life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother - still modelling at eighty-five - is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes.
As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going - Shirlee, the loudmouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old flame from university.
And while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, Polly knows she can't keep reality at bay forever. Eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths: about her husband, herself and who she really wants to be.
MY THOUGHTS: The Scent of You is my first read by Maggie Alderson and I can't believe what I have been missing.
I was immediately drawn into the plot which went in a very different direction to what I was anticipating and was so much better for that. The characters are so well depicted that I could hear them and felt like they were in the room with me. And the perfumes . . . I do wish that we had books capable of exuding the scents of what is being written about. So many perfumes and so many memories . . . My mother wore both Anais, Anais and Lily of the Valley. I loved the association of different perfumes with the events in Polly's life and the wonderful story of her mother who, even now in her 80's, is still a sought-after model.
Polly (Hippolyta) is the main character in this tale. I would love her and her 'Yoga Bears' as friends, although Shirlee can get a bit OTT if not restrained. But back to Polly who is coping with her husband's sudden alienation of not only herself, but their two children. He doesn't want to see or hear from any of them, won't tell them why and demands that they tell no one he has left. A wee bit odd, wouldn't you say? I had several scenarios in mind, but none of them came close to the rather shocking truth.
The Scent of You is a longish book at a little over 500 pages, but one I found difficult to put down. It is a lovely entertaining and intriguing read and definitely won't be the only book I read by this author.
#TheScentofYou @WaitomoDistrictLibrary
MEET THE AUTHOR: Maggie Alderson is a British-Australian author (that’s how I’m supposed to write it, but I’m not very good at talking about myself in the third person, so I’m going to can it).
I was born in London, brought up in rural Staffordshire, and educated at the University of St Andrews - and then at the University of Life, Sydney campus.
I spent many years covering the fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London etc which is the best people watching ever (I had to remind myself to look at the models…).
An obsessed bookworm since childhood, all I wanted to do from the age of six was write books. So, here I am . . .
Read
August 27, 2017*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
*3.5 stars
A great deal of time has passed since I last read a Maggie Alderson book but the promise of a story focussed on perfume, a subject that intrigues me, was enough to entice me to read Alderson’s tenth novel, The Scent of You.
The Scent of You follows the life of Polly, a happily married woman in her fifties, with two grown up children who have flown the nest and are now at university. Polly has a double career. She is a yoga teacher and a perfume blogger. Life has been easy on Polly until just before Christmas her husband Dave drops a bombshell. He informs Polly he needs time out from their marriage and family for reasons unknown. Dave also doesn’t want to be contacted until he is ready. This completely knocks Polly sideways, as she thought her marriage rock solid. To make matters worse, Dave has also cut off his two children Clemmie and Lucas, which astounds Polly. Receiving a reality check late in life is not easy for Polly, but she manages with the help of a few new friends. These include one of her students in her yoga class Shirlee, a secretive new perfumer Guy and old flame Edward (nicknamed Chum) from her university days. Each of these characters, as well as Polly’s glamorous eighty five year old mother Daphne, helps her through this tough time in her life. Although Polly has been served a rough deal by her husband Dave, she still wants to find and help him through this mid-life crisis. Will they be able to make amends?
The Scent of You was a light, entertaining and intriguing read, which I enjoyed. I associate Maggie Alderson with the chick lit genre and although The Scent of You falls into this category, it offers the reader a little more. Intertwining a background of perfume within the narrative was interesting. Alderson has obviously embarked on a great deal of research on perfumery to pad out this novel. I found it enlightening to read about the main character Polly’s keen nose for scent and how she relates certain scents to specific memories. Polly is also adept in linking experiences to specific scents, this was quite the eye opener, as I realised how ill versed I am in perfumes! Alderson also goes into the history, as well as the mechanics of perfumery, highlighting the various levels of scents. I found these sections of the narrative a great learning experience.
The central reason why my eyes stayed glued to this novel was the mystery involving the sudden exit of the main character Polly’s husband from their marriage, family and life together. Polly was a likeable character from the beginning and her predicament garnered much sympathy from me as the novel progressed. I had all sorts of ideas running through my head about what the cause was for Dave’s disappearance. When I eventually found out, it took me by surprise, it was a little darker than I expected from Alderson.
There is a great selection of characters in The Scent of You. It is good to see a mature lead at the forefront of this novel. Polly’s journey is one I enjoyed following and I am sure other readers will find her both likeable and relatable. There are some larger than life characters that support Polly, who is pretty unobtrusive overall. Polly’s yoga student friend Shirlee is a loud but supportive character. Aspiring perfumer Guy adds intrigue to the novel as his character is not quite so clear cut. Polly’s old uni pal Chum provides a sense of nostalgia for Polly and a possible love interest – if she is ready to move on from Dave. Finally, there is Polly’s mother Daphne, a glamorous ex model who is unafraid to share her thoughts with others. Daphne was certainly a larger than life character, showing us how age is no barrier.
Whilst the narrative focus of The Scent of You does lean towards perfume, it is a story of family and relationships. The Scent of You could also be classed as a mature woman’s coming of age story, examining how a woman is forced to find a new life and friends when her world is ripped apart. I really enjoyed the perfume blog entries that were included in this book, it gave us an insight into the world of perfume and Polly’s innermost thoughts. I also liked the way the book was structured, in a time line, with chapters indicating the date so we know how much time has passed since Dave’s departure. On the whole, I found The Scent of You an easy read, it did lag a little in the middle section of the novel and I did think that overall the book was slightly too lengthy. It did pick up pace wise towards the close, when Dave’s big secret was revealed and the characters are forced to deal with the aftermath.
Scent and life are married together nicely in this novel by Australian author Maggie Alderson. The Scent of You is a fresh women’s fiction tale that is full of heart.
*3.5 stars
A great deal of time has passed since I last read a Maggie Alderson book but the promise of a story focussed on perfume, a subject that intrigues me, was enough to entice me to read Alderson’s tenth novel, The Scent of You.
The Scent of You follows the life of Polly, a happily married woman in her fifties, with two grown up children who have flown the nest and are now at university. Polly has a double career. She is a yoga teacher and a perfume blogger. Life has been easy on Polly until just before Christmas her husband Dave drops a bombshell. He informs Polly he needs time out from their marriage and family for reasons unknown. Dave also doesn’t want to be contacted until he is ready. This completely knocks Polly sideways, as she thought her marriage rock solid. To make matters worse, Dave has also cut off his two children Clemmie and Lucas, which astounds Polly. Receiving a reality check late in life is not easy for Polly, but she manages with the help of a few new friends. These include one of her students in her yoga class Shirlee, a secretive new perfumer Guy and old flame Edward (nicknamed Chum) from her university days. Each of these characters, as well as Polly’s glamorous eighty five year old mother Daphne, helps her through this tough time in her life. Although Polly has been served a rough deal by her husband Dave, she still wants to find and help him through this mid-life crisis. Will they be able to make amends?
The Scent of You was a light, entertaining and intriguing read, which I enjoyed. I associate Maggie Alderson with the chick lit genre and although The Scent of You falls into this category, it offers the reader a little more. Intertwining a background of perfume within the narrative was interesting. Alderson has obviously embarked on a great deal of research on perfumery to pad out this novel. I found it enlightening to read about the main character Polly’s keen nose for scent and how she relates certain scents to specific memories. Polly is also adept in linking experiences to specific scents, this was quite the eye opener, as I realised how ill versed I am in perfumes! Alderson also goes into the history, as well as the mechanics of perfumery, highlighting the various levels of scents. I found these sections of the narrative a great learning experience.
The central reason why my eyes stayed glued to this novel was the mystery involving the sudden exit of the main character Polly’s husband from their marriage, family and life together. Polly was a likeable character from the beginning and her predicament garnered much sympathy from me as the novel progressed. I had all sorts of ideas running through my head about what the cause was for Dave’s disappearance. When I eventually found out, it took me by surprise, it was a little darker than I expected from Alderson.
There is a great selection of characters in The Scent of You. It is good to see a mature lead at the forefront of this novel. Polly’s journey is one I enjoyed following and I am sure other readers will find her both likeable and relatable. There are some larger than life characters that support Polly, who is pretty unobtrusive overall. Polly’s yoga student friend Shirlee is a loud but supportive character. Aspiring perfumer Guy adds intrigue to the novel as his character is not quite so clear cut. Polly’s old uni pal Chum provides a sense of nostalgia for Polly and a possible love interest – if she is ready to move on from Dave. Finally, there is Polly’s mother Daphne, a glamorous ex model who is unafraid to share her thoughts with others. Daphne was certainly a larger than life character, showing us how age is no barrier.
Whilst the narrative focus of The Scent of You does lean towards perfume, it is a story of family and relationships. The Scent of You could also be classed as a mature woman’s coming of age story, examining how a woman is forced to find a new life and friends when her world is ripped apart. I really enjoyed the perfume blog entries that were included in this book, it gave us an insight into the world of perfume and Polly’s innermost thoughts. I also liked the way the book was structured, in a time line, with chapters indicating the date so we know how much time has passed since Dave’s departure. On the whole, I found The Scent of You an easy read, it did lag a little in the middle section of the novel and I did think that overall the book was slightly too lengthy. It did pick up pace wise towards the close, when Dave’s big secret was revealed and the characters are forced to deal with the aftermath.
Scent and life are married together nicely in this novel by Australian author Maggie Alderson. The Scent of You is a fresh women’s fiction tale that is full of heart.
January 23, 2020
This is why I love using my library audiobook app. I love finding gems like this book that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
September 30, 2017
I am a huge Maggie Alderson fan and have read the majority of her books. I really loved this one. The main theme (about perfume) was unique and I found quite fascinating... I'm not a big 'perfume' fan, I don't wear it very often as I find the smell can be quite overpowering, and I'm very 'fussy' about what I like. My favourites are 'CK One'; 'Issey Miyake L'eau D'Issey' and the mens version of 'Davidoff Cool Water'. This is not something I would normally discuss in a book review, but if you have read the book, you will understand where I'm coming from. Every scent is tied up with memories and scents are comprised of many things, including base notes and top notes, things that I had no idea about until reading this wonderful novel.
As well as the interesting facts about perfume and scents, this book had a beautiful story entwined within, about love, motherhood and true friendship.
If you are a Maggie Alderson fan, I would highly recommend this book. If you have an interest in scents and perfumes, I would also highly recommend this book, and in general, if you love to read a very sweet story about a woman 'finding herself' I would recommend this book to you! Loved it!! :)
As well as the interesting facts about perfume and scents, this book had a beautiful story entwined within, about love, motherhood and true friendship.
If you are a Maggie Alderson fan, I would highly recommend this book. If you have an interest in scents and perfumes, I would also highly recommend this book, and in general, if you love to read a very sweet story about a woman 'finding herself' I would recommend this book to you! Loved it!! :)
July 17, 2018
I am not a faithful reader of Maggie Alderson, in fact I can’t remember if I’ve ever read any of her books before. But I finally waded my way to the end of this one! It wasn’t boring really, just sort of… twee. Nice treacly wish fulfilment for middle aged women who want to escape from their dull lives and imagine that they are someone like Polly, who has the sort of life where she doesn’t have to work for anything – it all just conveniently falls into her lap. Starts a perfume blog and it turns into a glamourous and lucrative job where, gosh, she just KEEPS on getting invited to all these swanky events full of famous people where bottles of expensive perfume are handed out like lollies. Starts running yoga class from home and often feels like her clients should pay HER for the (one) class she runs a day, it’s SO lovely and centring, and they all bring breakfast afterwards. But if that drudgery gets too much for her, whenever she feels like it she can take a few weeks off to go and relax at her mother’s holiday resort, oh sorry, retirement village, where there’s a pool and a salon and hot meals served in a restaurant daily, and nobody asks her to pay for anything. Plus of course, she has such a lovely close relationship with her grown children who both adore her and would do anything for her and are usually quite willing to drop everything and rush to her side in the event of an emotional crisis. And she never has to worry about her hair, weight, clothes or makeup because she’s the daughter of a model and therefore just naturally slim, beautiful and stylish!
I read it all the way through, so I guess that’s something – I did want to know how it would end up, although not with much urgency. But there were lots of things about it that I found deeply annoying.
1. I didn’t like Polly and couldn’t relate to her. I found her emotionally needy and humourless. Though to be fair I do know a few people like that, so I guess it’s realistic.
2. I am not a perfume person and I think people who douse themselves in clouds of scent are rude. They’re basically saying: “I like this smell so much that I’m going to share it with everyone around me! You don’t get a say and you can’t complain.” It’s like carrying a boom box on your shoulder. I used to work in an office cubicle next to a lady who had a ‘signature perfume’ that she wore every day. She had a desk fan that she would point towards herself when it was hot, sending gusts of smell over to me constantly. Awful!
I did enjoy the parts of the book where Polly described the smells of THINGS, or the combination of smells that evoke a certain place or era for her, like her university days: manicured lawns on a summer day, cigarette smoke, instant coffee, Pimms, sea breeze & beach bonfires etc. But once she (or Guy) started rabbiting on about chypre and the notes of oakmoss and bergamot etc, I lost interest. I don’t know what those things smell like and don’t really care.
3. Chum had this dramatic story all set up and then it totally fizzled. In the last blog post of the book (which, incidentally, was insufferably smug) it was like ‘oh and by the way that business with his ancestral home all worked out exactly the way he wanted’. Well that was easy! When it first transpired about his tragic history, and there was still a goodly chunk of book to go, I was all prepared for an awesome plot twist. Like: Flavia the Evil Wife’s current boyfriend, the billionaire owner of a chain of lap-dance clubs, will turn out to be…. dun dun dunnnnn…. GUY!! THAT’S where he gets the money for all his perfume ingredients and why he’s so cagey about himself! The reason he’s so nosy and stalkerish about Polly is that he’s going to try and USE her to BRING CHUM DOWN!! He’s also employed Shirlee to help him, which explains why SHE is always being so pushy and trying to ferret information out of Polly about her personal life. Guy will reveal his diabolical plot with a sinister flourish near the end and Polly and Chum will have to work together to battle him for the deeds to the castle!
But no, le sigh, it turns out the reason he’s so interested in Polly’s life is because she’s just SO amazing that everyone around her is apparently fascinated by every single dull thing she does.
4. Shirlee (another character who had no life of her own because Polly’s is apparently way more exciting) was a stereotypical Loud Tactless American Who Doesn’t Understand the Way Things are Done Here in London. Polly kept her around anyway because she was sooooo FUNNY (!), and graciously allowed her to fulfil her thirst for crumbs of attention by acting as an unpaid personal assistant.
5. The whole story with David was frustrating and unrealistic. For more than half the book the author deliberately revealed nothing about him, kept setting up mysterious glimpses and clues only to have him disappear again. Trying to build up suspense about what on earth was going on, I suppose. When we eventually found out, after many unnecessary twists and turns, I was intrigued by the explanation! I hadn’t necessarily expected it, and thought it had potential to open up a completely different ending to the one I’d foreseen and explore lots of interesting issues on the way. BUT obviously the author couldn’t be bothered going down that route, so she turned him into a heartless mustachio-twirling villain & made him say a few unforgivably horrible things to Polly. Much easier! Now poor darling Polly won’t have to make any difficult life choices, let ALONE try and deal with David’s condition, when her own emotional state is so fragile. I mean, who wants to read about someone giving up their exciting new crush and sticking by their husband, battling the thankless drudgery of supporting a family member with a debilitating mental illness? Ugh!
So yeah. Not my cup of tea, but I can see there would be lots of people who would love this sort of thing. And fair enough too! We all read for different reasons, some people enjoy reading precisely because it offers such satisfying escapism and wish fulfillment.
I read it all the way through, so I guess that’s something – I did want to know how it would end up, although not with much urgency. But there were lots of things about it that I found deeply annoying.
1. I didn’t like Polly and couldn’t relate to her. I found her emotionally needy and humourless. Though to be fair I do know a few people like that, so I guess it’s realistic.
2. I am not a perfume person and I think people who douse themselves in clouds of scent are rude. They’re basically saying: “I like this smell so much that I’m going to share it with everyone around me! You don’t get a say and you can’t complain.” It’s like carrying a boom box on your shoulder. I used to work in an office cubicle next to a lady who had a ‘signature perfume’ that she wore every day. She had a desk fan that she would point towards herself when it was hot, sending gusts of smell over to me constantly. Awful!
I did enjoy the parts of the book where Polly described the smells of THINGS, or the combination of smells that evoke a certain place or era for her, like her university days: manicured lawns on a summer day, cigarette smoke, instant coffee, Pimms, sea breeze & beach bonfires etc. But once she (or Guy) started rabbiting on about chypre and the notes of oakmoss and bergamot etc, I lost interest. I don’t know what those things smell like and don’t really care.
3. Chum had this dramatic story all set up and then it totally fizzled. In the last blog post of the book (which, incidentally, was insufferably smug) it was like ‘oh and by the way that business with his ancestral home all worked out exactly the way he wanted’. Well that was easy! When it first transpired about his tragic history, and there was still a goodly chunk of book to go, I was all prepared for an awesome plot twist. Like: Flavia the Evil Wife’s current boyfriend, the billionaire owner of a chain of lap-dance clubs, will turn out to be…. dun dun dunnnnn…. GUY!! THAT’S where he gets the money for all his perfume ingredients and why he’s so cagey about himself! The reason he’s so nosy and stalkerish about Polly is that he’s going to try and USE her to BRING CHUM DOWN!! He’s also employed Shirlee to help him, which explains why SHE is always being so pushy and trying to ferret information out of Polly about her personal life. Guy will reveal his diabolical plot with a sinister flourish near the end and Polly and Chum will have to work together to battle him for the deeds to the castle!
But no, le sigh, it turns out the reason he’s so interested in Polly’s life is because she’s just SO amazing that everyone around her is apparently fascinated by every single dull thing she does.
4. Shirlee (another character who had no life of her own because Polly’s is apparently way more exciting) was a stereotypical Loud Tactless American Who Doesn’t Understand the Way Things are Done Here in London. Polly kept her around anyway because she was sooooo FUNNY (!), and graciously allowed her to fulfil her thirst for crumbs of attention by acting as an unpaid personal assistant.
5. The whole story with David was frustrating and unrealistic. For more than half the book the author deliberately revealed nothing about him, kept setting up mysterious glimpses and clues only to have him disappear again. Trying to build up suspense about what on earth was going on, I suppose. When we eventually found out, after many unnecessary twists and turns, I was intrigued by the explanation! I hadn’t necessarily expected it, and thought it had potential to open up a completely different ending to the one I’d foreseen and explore lots of interesting issues on the way. BUT obviously the author couldn’t be bothered going down that route, so she turned him into a heartless mustachio-twirling villain & made him say a few unforgivably horrible things to Polly. Much easier! Now poor darling Polly won’t have to make any difficult life choices, let ALONE try and deal with David’s condition, when her own emotional state is so fragile. I mean, who wants to read about someone giving up their exciting new crush and sticking by their husband, battling the thankless drudgery of supporting a family member with a debilitating mental illness? Ugh!
So yeah. Not my cup of tea, but I can see there would be lots of people who would love this sort of thing. And fair enough too! We all read for different reasons, some people enjoy reading precisely because it offers such satisfying escapism and wish fulfillment.
April 13, 2017
Polly has been happily married (or so she thinks) for 24 years but New Years Eve sees her spending it by herself. Her husband David has just left her with a message saying that he has to go off on his own for a while and not to contact him or his work for 6 months.
So Polly, a successful perfume blogger and yoga teacher, Clemmie her medical student daughter and son Lucas, who is in his first term in uni have to grapple with their father's decision to take a sabbatical from their life. While David is gone Polly finds new freedom in her life and she realises that David may have been a little controlling and unsupportive in some aspects.
I found this book an easy read, although meandering in some places. It was quite light and funny in some places and others I applauded Polly and her children for taking a stand against their situation. Polly grows with the help of her family and new friends but there is the underlying issue of why her husband left which I felt quite disconnected with. I'm not really sure I understand why Polly just stood back and did things on his terms in the beginning. But I did find the eventual reasons of David's disappearance interesting.
This book would be a pleasant holiday read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read and review.
So Polly, a successful perfume blogger and yoga teacher, Clemmie her medical student daughter and son Lucas, who is in his first term in uni have to grapple with their father's decision to take a sabbatical from their life. While David is gone Polly finds new freedom in her life and she realises that David may have been a little controlling and unsupportive in some aspects.
I found this book an easy read, although meandering in some places. It was quite light and funny in some places and others I applauded Polly and her children for taking a stand against their situation. Polly grows with the help of her family and new friends but there is the underlying issue of why her husband left which I felt quite disconnected with. I'm not really sure I understand why Polly just stood back and did things on his terms in the beginning. But I did find the eventual reasons of David's disappearance interesting.
This book would be a pleasant holiday read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read and review.
April 4, 2017
First of all thank you to HarperCollins for letting me read an advanced copy of The Scent of You by Maggie Alderson through NetGalley.
The Scent of You is a sweet-smelling joy of a book!
As soon as I saw it I fell in love with the cover. Absolutely perfect for this story. I have been reading mystery/thrillers alot at the moment and this book was a breath of fresh air and much welcome light change that I loved from the start.
The Scent of You is a story of Polly, a perfume-blogger/yoga instructor from London dealing with the sudden vanishing act from her husband David, while building her perfume-blogging empire and living her busy day to day life. She meets an intriguing perfumer Guy, who seems to have alot of questions about him, reaquaints herself with an old friend Edward from university days and makes a few unlikely new friends. The story unfolds in a suprising and delightful way, with warm and likable characters, a charming love story and a strong value on family.
Polly is a middle-aged succesful, funny, sometimes immature woman, but all round a good character- a friend you would like to have.
She has two older children, Clemmie and Lucas. Clemmie, the older one is a medical student and Lucas is a bass player. Polly and her children are extremely close and their relationships are healthy, well-communicated and very touching at times.
Her mother is a former fashion model who was very famous and is a character that brings so much to this book and I highly enjoyed her humor and her beauty/life tips.
Her friend Shirlee is extreme but endearing and Guy is almost annoying, I found him hard to warm up to at first. A special mention to her dog Digger too!
I particularly loved Pollys 'blog entries' where she associates smells and perfumes with the people and events of her life. I learnt a few interesting things about perfume from this book and it made me think of memories from my life that certain smells and perfumes bring back, like the smell of roses and Avon remind me of my mother or the smell of toast brings my children to mind and our morning breakfast rituals.
As much as I enjoyed reading The Scent of You, some elements of the story I did not like and I didn't always find myself agreeing with Polly. The 'surprise' was a little underwhelming and not what I expected and not in a good way. Though other people may feel different, I just didn't sympathise with the characters or plot at some points. Some parts were a bit slower than others and would take a chapter or two to pick up again.
But all of this aside, The Scent of You is a pleasant and delectable read, one thats best with a bubble bath or on a cosy couch with a cup of tea. Maggie Aldersons writing is touching, humerous and entertaining that leaves you feeling happy inside.
I recommend it for anyone that loves her work and needs a feel good love story in their lives.
3.5/5
Bookish Belle Blog-http://bookishbellereviews.blogspot.c...
The Scent of You is a sweet-smelling joy of a book!
As soon as I saw it I fell in love with the cover. Absolutely perfect for this story. I have been reading mystery/thrillers alot at the moment and this book was a breath of fresh air and much welcome light change that I loved from the start.
The Scent of You is a story of Polly, a perfume-blogger/yoga instructor from London dealing with the sudden vanishing act from her husband David, while building her perfume-blogging empire and living her busy day to day life. She meets an intriguing perfumer Guy, who seems to have alot of questions about him, reaquaints herself with an old friend Edward from university days and makes a few unlikely new friends. The story unfolds in a suprising and delightful way, with warm and likable characters, a charming love story and a strong value on family.
Polly is a middle-aged succesful, funny, sometimes immature woman, but all round a good character- a friend you would like to have.
She has two older children, Clemmie and Lucas. Clemmie, the older one is a medical student and Lucas is a bass player. Polly and her children are extremely close and their relationships are healthy, well-communicated and very touching at times.
Her mother is a former fashion model who was very famous and is a character that brings so much to this book and I highly enjoyed her humor and her beauty/life tips.
Her friend Shirlee is extreme but endearing and Guy is almost annoying, I found him hard to warm up to at first. A special mention to her dog Digger too!
I particularly loved Pollys 'blog entries' where she associates smells and perfumes with the people and events of her life. I learnt a few interesting things about perfume from this book and it made me think of memories from my life that certain smells and perfumes bring back, like the smell of roses and Avon remind me of my mother or the smell of toast brings my children to mind and our morning breakfast rituals.
As much as I enjoyed reading The Scent of You, some elements of the story I did not like and I didn't always find myself agreeing with Polly. The 'surprise' was a little underwhelming and not what I expected and not in a good way. Though other people may feel different, I just didn't sympathise with the characters or plot at some points. Some parts were a bit slower than others and would take a chapter or two to pick up again.
But all of this aside, The Scent of You is a pleasant and delectable read, one thats best with a bubble bath or on a cosy couch with a cup of tea. Maggie Aldersons writing is touching, humerous and entertaining that leaves you feeling happy inside.
I recommend it for anyone that loves her work and needs a feel good love story in their lives.
3.5/5
Bookish Belle Blog-http://bookishbellereviews.blogspot.c...
March 29, 2018
Review to follow. But flat. Unusual.
June 9, 2018
Polly is a married perfume blogger and yoga teacher with two grown up children away at University. The book starts just after her husband David has announced he needs some time away from the family and has left on a research trip with the University, leaving no way of contacting him. She is understandably lost and confused but soon starts to make a life for herself. She bonds with the girls who do her yoga class, while visiting her glamorous mother in her retirement village she meets at old flame from University Edward and as her work as a perfume blogger, she meets a talented and mysterious perfumer, Guy.
Eventually she finds out the reason for her husband's disappearance and strange behaviour but having adapted to life without him, she has to decide what she is going to do. As the tagline says, "Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months?"
I have to admit, I'd already decided I'd find this one a bit of a chore. I haven't read chick lit for quite a while and it is pretty long (500 pages). But I'm pleased to be proven wrong - I flew through this in just a couple of days. I liked that it was about a woman of a similar age to me (40s) with a family and that as well as telling the story we were treated to her blog posts about perfume and the scents that are connected to certain people or occasions. There is romance and glamour (lots of posh perfume events) and it was very readable. I hadn't come across Maggie Alderson before and I'll be keeping an eye out for some of her earlier novels.
Thank you HarperCollins for sending me a copy of this to read.
Eventually she finds out the reason for her husband's disappearance and strange behaviour but having adapted to life without him, she has to decide what she is going to do. As the tagline says, "Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months?"
I have to admit, I'd already decided I'd find this one a bit of a chore. I haven't read chick lit for quite a while and it is pretty long (500 pages). But I'm pleased to be proven wrong - I flew through this in just a couple of days. I liked that it was about a woman of a similar age to me (40s) with a family and that as well as telling the story we were treated to her blog posts about perfume and the scents that are connected to certain people or occasions. There is romance and glamour (lots of posh perfume events) and it was very readable. I hadn't come across Maggie Alderson before and I'll be keeping an eye out for some of her earlier novels.
Thank you HarperCollins for sending me a copy of this to read.
March 23, 2017
I have been a Maggie Alderson fan for many years now and was excited to get the opportunity to read and review her latest book The Scent of You.
The story follows the life of Polly who writes a perfume blog and teaches Yoga. Her mother is a glamorous model and she has two grown up children who both live away from home. Polly thought her life was going well until her world is turned upside down, when her Husband decides to up and leave her with no explanation at all.
As Polly struggles to come to terms with her new life she finds comfort in her friends Shirlee who is very loud and doesn't mind overstepping the boundaries, Guy, a mysterious and quirky perfumer and an old flame/friend from Uni called Chum.
Throughout the story we learn alot about perfumes and Polly finding not only herself again but new found friendships, love and forgiveness. In order for Polly to move forward with her life she must face the real reason her husband left their marriage and come to terms with the most shocking discovery.
I really enjoyed this book. I found the plot to be interesting and liked how the author broached the subject of mental illness, especially OCD and intrusive thoughts which is something that is not openly talked about enough.
I found Polly to be a delightful, lovable character and enjoyed the interactions that she engaged in with the other main characters in the book.
A must read for any Maggie Alderson fan.
A big thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Australia for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review which I have been more then happy to give.
The story follows the life of Polly who writes a perfume blog and teaches Yoga. Her mother is a glamorous model and she has two grown up children who both live away from home. Polly thought her life was going well until her world is turned upside down, when her Husband decides to up and leave her with no explanation at all.
As Polly struggles to come to terms with her new life she finds comfort in her friends Shirlee who is very loud and doesn't mind overstepping the boundaries, Guy, a mysterious and quirky perfumer and an old flame/friend from Uni called Chum.
Throughout the story we learn alot about perfumes and Polly finding not only herself again but new found friendships, love and forgiveness. In order for Polly to move forward with her life she must face the real reason her husband left their marriage and come to terms with the most shocking discovery.
I really enjoyed this book. I found the plot to be interesting and liked how the author broached the subject of mental illness, especially OCD and intrusive thoughts which is something that is not openly talked about enough.
I found Polly to be a delightful, lovable character and enjoyed the interactions that she engaged in with the other main characters in the book.
A must read for any Maggie Alderson fan.
A big thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Australia for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review which I have been more then happy to give.
April 5, 2017
3.5 stars
Anosmia - the inability to perceive odor or a lack of functioning olfaction—the loss of the sense of smell. For someone like Polly, the protagonist in Maggie Alderson's The Scent of You, this condition would be an utter nightmare. Her sense of smell defined her and gave shape to her lifes work. Polly writes a perfume blog Fragrantcloud.net where she describes in delicious and vivid detail some of her favourite smells. Not just perfume smells but all manner of smells that triggered memories for her. Like the smells she associated with her children when they were young, farm smells, parkland smells, yoga smells, animal smells, family, food and husband smells.
The Scent of You contained a quirky cast of characters and an engaging story. Polly's husband of 24 years has left home leaving only an email saying he needs a break and instructions not to contact him for 6 months. She's trying to maintain her sense of composure, to make sense of this disruption in what she believed to be a happy and successful marriage, and to remain strong for their two adult children. The story takes the reader down a not entirely unpredictable path yet I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.
As a result of a head trauma a few years ago I have Anosmia. Where I once had a fully functioning sense of smell I now do not. Fortunately I still have memories of my favourite (and not so favourite) smells. As time passes those memories are diminishing but this book took me on a sensory trip down memory lane.
Reading The Scent of You by Maggie Alderson was a real treat for me and I'd definitely recommend it to lovers of womens fiction.
And another thing, check out the FragrantCloud.net website for some further samples of Polly's blogs. I loved this touch.
Thanks to the author, Harper Collins Publishers Australia Pty Ltd, and NetGalley for the priveledge of receiving a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Anosmia - the inability to perceive odor or a lack of functioning olfaction—the loss of the sense of smell. For someone like Polly, the protagonist in Maggie Alderson's The Scent of You, this condition would be an utter nightmare. Her sense of smell defined her and gave shape to her lifes work. Polly writes a perfume blog Fragrantcloud.net where she describes in delicious and vivid detail some of her favourite smells. Not just perfume smells but all manner of smells that triggered memories for her. Like the smells she associated with her children when they were young, farm smells, parkland smells, yoga smells, animal smells, family, food and husband smells.
The Scent of You contained a quirky cast of characters and an engaging story. Polly's husband of 24 years has left home leaving only an email saying he needs a break and instructions not to contact him for 6 months. She's trying to maintain her sense of composure, to make sense of this disruption in what she believed to be a happy and successful marriage, and to remain strong for their two adult children. The story takes the reader down a not entirely unpredictable path yet I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.
As a result of a head trauma a few years ago I have Anosmia. Where I once had a fully functioning sense of smell I now do not. Fortunately I still have memories of my favourite (and not so favourite) smells. As time passes those memories are diminishing but this book took me on a sensory trip down memory lane.
Reading The Scent of You by Maggie Alderson was a real treat for me and I'd definitely recommend it to lovers of womens fiction.
And another thing, check out the FragrantCloud.net website for some further samples of Polly's blogs. I loved this touch.
Thanks to the author, Harper Collins Publishers Australia Pty Ltd, and NetGalley for the priveledge of receiving a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 13, 2017
I’ve never read Maggie Alderson before but this book caught my attention immediately when it arrived because I love perfume. I’m not in any way knowledgeable like Polly, the main character is. She runs a perfume blog and gets invited to a lot of exciting events and launches for fragrances and is really quite well known. Her mother was a very famous model decades ago, for houses like Dior and has always had a very large perfume collection but favoured some signature scents. Polly always associated several scents with her mother – her going to a party perfume for example and she’s taken this into her everyday life. She seemed to have a very developed sense of smell, picking out a seven or so ingredient elements in a perfume very easily. I found this really interesting, so I googled the perfume I’m wearing today. According to the website, it has topnotes of pomegranate, coconut water and boysenberry, heart notes (I don’t even know what that is) of butterfly orchid, honeysuckle and blooming magnolia and base notes of blonde woods, skin musks (that sounds kind of gross to be honest) and gilded amber. And if I’m completely and utterly honest the only things I really pick up are the coconut and orchid. Maybe a touch of the boysenberry, now that I know what it is. I love perfumes though, I’ve got about a half dozen which is nothing compared to someone like Polly but I found that I really do have a bit of a “pattern” for how I choose to wear them. I have my at home perfume, which is one I just spritz on when I’m not going anywhere, maybe just the school run. I have my perfume that I wear when I’m going out but not really anywhere special, just to the shops or maybe out to brunch. I have my expensive perfume which I wear occasionally when I’m going somewhere nice, my “night” perfume which I wear out to dinner and my summer perfume which I wear only really during the warm months. Then I’ve got my “something different” perfume for when I’m bored of all of those and feel like something new. My perfumes aren’t really expensive and I don’t have a “signature”. I buy whatever intrigues me at the time but I get the association of scents with people. My mother wears Opium and I can’t smell it without being transported back to my childhood.
So obviously this book has a lot about perfume in it as running the blog, going to events etc is part of Polly’s job and she identifies so strongly with scents that it makes up a large part of her life. But it’s not all there is to it – Polly’s personal life is in a bit of a crisis. A few days before Christmas, her husband David disappeared, leaving only a note telling her that he needed time alone and not to contact anyone or basically talk about it. Having been married for 24 years with two grown up children both at university, Polly is feeling the sting of the empty nest and David’s disappearance has only amplified that. As well as running the blog, Polly also teaches yoga each morning at her home and the loneliness she’s feeling leads to her forming friendships with several of the women who frequent her class. Through visiting her mother in a very posh retirement village (but not as we would know it) Polly has also reconnected with a former college friend, and these things all provide a distraction for her, a way to ignore the fact that her husband has vanished without warning and she doesn’t know where he is.
I found myself getting really invested in the mystery of “where is David and what is going on?” as the book progressed. At first it seems like it might be the stereotypical mid-life crisis, leaving the wife and family and taking off for a life of no responsibility or perhaps on a long work trip where he probably could be in contact but didn’t want to. But the more that you read into the story, the more that it becomes something else and when it all unfolded it was definitely something that I didn’t at all suspect and I definitely appreciated the fact that it was something unexpected and really different to anything else I’ve read where a character finds themselves in a situation similar to Polly’s. I also really liked her relationship with her children – she was very close to them and loved them very much but it felt like a realistic exasperation at times as well as pain when she finds that one of her children has been placed in a difficult position by her husband David. I felt as though Polly’s reaction to that felt very raw and real but also liked that once she had calmed down and thought on it, she didn’t hold a grudge and she was able to be a support for her children as well as they were to her, through David’s disappearance. Their family unit felt really tight but also genuine.
Some of the supporting characters were a bit too quirky – mostly the perfumer Guy, who might be brilliant but seemed to be unable to distinguish social cues and interactions and to be honest, some of his behaviour was a bit creepy and I felt like I couldn’t discern whether or not he’d end up a lifelong friend or someone that Polly ended up taking a restraining order out on. But I also felt like Polly enabled some of his outrageous behaviour as well, or wasn’t firm enough with him when he crossed boundaries and was generally acting in ways that could be seen as inappropriate. I noticed that Polly really was quite non-confrontational across the board. She preferred to retreat and calm down before facing people again, rather than just tell them that what they were doing was upsetting her etc. I could relate to that, it’s the way I tend to be too because I’d rather just avoid having to talk to people when they’re doing something that makes me angry or upset or uncomfortable.
I really enjoyed this book – loved learning more about perfumes and what goes into making them and the way in which different perfumes are included in families. It was also really fun to read about a blogger who had turned a passion into something much more and I’ve never read about perfume before. I spent about an hour after I finished the book googling the perfumes I have and learning what was in them and I’m pretty sure I’ll be googling perfumes I want to buy, seeing if they have anything in common with the ones I already own and like.
Definitely going to be looking for more Maggie Alderson books to read in the future. Not only did she take something that’s a part of my everyday life that I never thought about before and made me think about it and also enjoy thinking about it, but I also really liked the way she wrote relationships and friendships of all varieties.
So obviously this book has a lot about perfume in it as running the blog, going to events etc is part of Polly’s job and she identifies so strongly with scents that it makes up a large part of her life. But it’s not all there is to it – Polly’s personal life is in a bit of a crisis. A few days before Christmas, her husband David disappeared, leaving only a note telling her that he needed time alone and not to contact anyone or basically talk about it. Having been married for 24 years with two grown up children both at university, Polly is feeling the sting of the empty nest and David’s disappearance has only amplified that. As well as running the blog, Polly also teaches yoga each morning at her home and the loneliness she’s feeling leads to her forming friendships with several of the women who frequent her class. Through visiting her mother in a very posh retirement village (but not as we would know it) Polly has also reconnected with a former college friend, and these things all provide a distraction for her, a way to ignore the fact that her husband has vanished without warning and she doesn’t know where he is.
I found myself getting really invested in the mystery of “where is David and what is going on?” as the book progressed. At first it seems like it might be the stereotypical mid-life crisis, leaving the wife and family and taking off for a life of no responsibility or perhaps on a long work trip where he probably could be in contact but didn’t want to. But the more that you read into the story, the more that it becomes something else and when it all unfolded it was definitely something that I didn’t at all suspect and I definitely appreciated the fact that it was something unexpected and really different to anything else I’ve read where a character finds themselves in a situation similar to Polly’s. I also really liked her relationship with her children – she was very close to them and loved them very much but it felt like a realistic exasperation at times as well as pain when she finds that one of her children has been placed in a difficult position by her husband David. I felt as though Polly’s reaction to that felt very raw and real but also liked that once she had calmed down and thought on it, she didn’t hold a grudge and she was able to be a support for her children as well as they were to her, through David’s disappearance. Their family unit felt really tight but also genuine.
Some of the supporting characters were a bit too quirky – mostly the perfumer Guy, who might be brilliant but seemed to be unable to distinguish social cues and interactions and to be honest, some of his behaviour was a bit creepy and I felt like I couldn’t discern whether or not he’d end up a lifelong friend or someone that Polly ended up taking a restraining order out on. But I also felt like Polly enabled some of his outrageous behaviour as well, or wasn’t firm enough with him when he crossed boundaries and was generally acting in ways that could be seen as inappropriate. I noticed that Polly really was quite non-confrontational across the board. She preferred to retreat and calm down before facing people again, rather than just tell them that what they were doing was upsetting her etc. I could relate to that, it’s the way I tend to be too because I’d rather just avoid having to talk to people when they’re doing something that makes me angry or upset or uncomfortable.
I really enjoyed this book – loved learning more about perfumes and what goes into making them and the way in which different perfumes are included in families. It was also really fun to read about a blogger who had turned a passion into something much more and I’ve never read about perfume before. I spent about an hour after I finished the book googling the perfumes I have and learning what was in them and I’m pretty sure I’ll be googling perfumes I want to buy, seeing if they have anything in common with the ones I already own and like.
Definitely going to be looking for more Maggie Alderson books to read in the future. Not only did she take something that’s a part of my everyday life that I never thought about before and made me think about it and also enjoy thinking about it, but I also really liked the way she wrote relationships and friendships of all varieties.
January 1, 2021
The Scent of You is a sweet romance and relationship focused novel set in the world of perfumery. Polly is a part-time yoga teacher and successful English perfume blogger. Her professor husband, David, abruptly left their home under mysterious circumstances leaving strict instructions not to look for him. Polly copes with the stress of David's disappearance and her mother's failing health with the help of her two children, Shirley, the blunt yoga student, Guy, the mysterious perfumer, and Edward (Chum), an old university boyfriend.
I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of all the lovely perfumes interspersed throughout the novel and loved Polly's blog posts which linked perfumes with memories. The characters were all well-developed and likable, except for Polly's husband and occasionally Polly herself. I couldn't help but wonder how Polly had no idea of the issue David had been facing for so many years!
I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of all the lovely perfumes interspersed throughout the novel and loved Polly's blog posts which linked perfumes with memories. The characters were all well-developed and likable, except for Polly's husband and occasionally Polly herself. I couldn't help but wonder how Polly had no idea of the issue David had been facing for so many years!
September 12, 2017
This book took me on a ride, a whirlwind of emotion, on A scale of which very few books can achieve. To say that this book connected with me would not do it justice, as someone who has always been amazed with how smells and tastes, sights, sounds and even touches interact with this world of ours, this book reflects that to a t.
January 7, 2018
Quite frankly, went on for a bit too long. Alderson babbled on a bit too much about perfumes and some of the trivia she goes on and on about didn't really add much to the storyline. That said, the book had a great plot and I really wanted to know what happened. There was also a surprising twist that I didn't see coming.
June 10, 2017
I love Maggie Alderson. And I loved the perfume blog bits of this book. But I hated her treatment of OCD/mental illness - disturbingly callous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
September 5, 2017I'd never read any of Maggie Alderson's fiction before, although I'm a longtime fan of her journalism and at one point I followed her blog. Her writing is so warm and welcoming: charming and funny and self-deprecating. It makes you feel as if you could be great friends with the author.
I read this because I was on a panel with Maggie at the Melbourne Writers Festival, and I was super jazzed to meet her but also trepidatious in case she didn't live up to the persona I'd created for her in my head. Anyway, she was friendly and gracious and even said nice things about my book on the panel, which not all co-panellists do.
I genuinely enjoyed 'The Scent of You' and read it in one indulgent, escapist binge. I've been interested in perfume for some time and have wasted heaps of time at Fragrantica and read a fair few perfume blogs, so the milieu of the heroine, Polly, wasn't unfamiliar, and I found myself responding to her sensory world via my own tastes in perfume. (I can't stand the aggression of Fracas or the sizzling fizz of Caleche. I like a powdery midcentury floral aldehyde) I was super into the iris turn that Polly's fabbo perfumer mate Guy takes, as iris is my favourite accord.
In general, it was fun to read a romance in which scent was the protagonist's primary way of navigating the world – it's an under-used sense in fiction. It was also striking that this was a story about middle age: pausing in your care obligations to your parents and your children to ask yourself, belatedly, what do I want for myself?
I wasn't entirely convinced by the way the novel resolved the question of
I enjoyed the interspersed posts from Polly's perfume blog because they reminded me of what an embarrassing carry-on blogging is, and how awkward and exhausting it is to perform a delightful, fun-filled life on your blog to a readership who may know you in real life or not know you at all, and so when something actually important happens in your life you have to use this euphemistic, wistful, elliptical language to talk about it. Blogging. Lol, Christ, it seems like such a long-ago disaster but it was a huge part of my intellectual and emotional world a decade or more ago.
Anyway, I liked this book a lot but guess what? When I met its author I was running late and I'D FORGOTTEN TO PUT ON PERFUME.
I read this because I was on a panel with Maggie at the Melbourne Writers Festival, and I was super jazzed to meet her but also trepidatious in case she didn't live up to the persona I'd created for her in my head. Anyway, she was friendly and gracious and even said nice things about my book on the panel, which not all co-panellists do.
I genuinely enjoyed 'The Scent of You' and read it in one indulgent, escapist binge. I've been interested in perfume for some time and have wasted heaps of time at Fragrantica and read a fair few perfume blogs, so the milieu of the heroine, Polly, wasn't unfamiliar, and I found myself responding to her sensory world via my own tastes in perfume. (I can't stand the aggression of Fracas or the sizzling fizz of Caleche. I like a powdery midcentury floral aldehyde) I was super into the iris turn that Polly's fabbo perfumer mate Guy takes, as iris is my favourite accord.
In general, it was fun to read a romance in which scent was the protagonist's primary way of navigating the world – it's an under-used sense in fiction. It was also striking that this was a story about middle age: pausing in your care obligations to your parents and your children to ask yourself, belatedly, what do I want for myself?
I wasn't entirely convinced by the way the novel resolved the question of
I enjoyed the interspersed posts from Polly's perfume blog because they reminded me of what an embarrassing carry-on blogging is, and how awkward and exhausting it is to perform a delightful, fun-filled life on your blog to a readership who may know you in real life or not know you at all, and so when something actually important happens in your life you have to use this euphemistic, wistful, elliptical language to talk about it. Blogging. Lol, Christ, it seems like such a long-ago disaster but it was a huge part of my intellectual and emotional world a decade or more ago.
Anyway, I liked this book a lot but guess what? When I met its author I was running late and I'D FORGOTTEN TO PUT ON PERFUME.
June 6, 2018
olly is placed in an impossible position when David, her husband of twenty four years tells her that he needs to spend some time alone without any contact with her or his children. In total bewilderment, and with little clue as to his whereabouts, Polly and her grown up children, Clemmie and Lucas, try to make sense of David's unusual behaviour however, with no real contact, it’s extremely difficult to know what to do, so for a while they do nothing. Polly turns to her life as a successful perfume blogger and Yoga instructor and gradually with the help of her friends she starts to make something of a new life for herself, but the mystery surrounding David’s disappearance continues to be a vital part in the story.
The author writes well and lets the story move along at an interesting pace with lots of quirky characters who add humour and who allow the story to move away from what’s happening in Polly’s life, although she always remains centre stage, with everything happening around her. Shirlee, Polly’s American friend and fellow yoga enthusiast, is loud and brash, but adds some nice flashes of humour into the story. I especially liked, Guy, a perfumier with a captivating way of creating the most exquisite scent. I don’t use perfume very much, as far too many of them give me a headache, so I found Polly’s enthusiastic blog posts about the emotional response to fragrances really fascinating. The story, however, is not all about perfume as there’s a rather unusual aspect about what’s really going on with Polly’s husband, which I think surprised me the most as I didn’t know what to expect when the reasons for his unusual behaviour starts to emerge.
The Scent of You is a character focused, thought-provoking family drama with some lovely light touches, a smattering of romance and enough dark undertones to add necessary depth. It’s a perfect long-haul flight read or a sitting by the pool with an ice cold margarita type of story.
The author writes well and lets the story move along at an interesting pace with lots of quirky characters who add humour and who allow the story to move away from what’s happening in Polly’s life, although she always remains centre stage, with everything happening around her. Shirlee, Polly’s American friend and fellow yoga enthusiast, is loud and brash, but adds some nice flashes of humour into the story. I especially liked, Guy, a perfumier with a captivating way of creating the most exquisite scent. I don’t use perfume very much, as far too many of them give me a headache, so I found Polly’s enthusiastic blog posts about the emotional response to fragrances really fascinating. The story, however, is not all about perfume as there’s a rather unusual aspect about what’s really going on with Polly’s husband, which I think surprised me the most as I didn’t know what to expect when the reasons for his unusual behaviour starts to emerge.
The Scent of You is a character focused, thought-provoking family drama with some lovely light touches, a smattering of romance and enough dark undertones to add necessary depth. It’s a perfect long-haul flight read or a sitting by the pool with an ice cold margarita type of story.
May 29, 2017
3.5 stars. Maggie Anderson has always been one of my favourite authors, I love love love her earlier works and hated that it took soooo long for a new release. I'm finding lately I don't connect as much with her characters, she seemed to go from your classic mid 20's chick lit tale straight into mid 40's-50s aged women, whilst enjoyable I just can't relate to a lot of what happens.
May 18, 2021
this was a nice distraction for a few days with a focus on perfumes and scents. Its fun to read a non serious book every now and again but not too much to recommend it to the next reader. If you love perfumes this add a reason to enjoy.
May 7, 2018
There were parts of this book that I thoroughly enjoyed, however I found myself constantly distracted by the poor grammar and clumsy dialogue! Some gold within but a bit of an overall disappointment, I’m sorry to say.
November 10, 2017
Hippolita (Polly) has the perfect marriage of 20 odd years, she is a perfume blogger and a yoga teacher and two grown children. Life is pretty good for Polly until one day her seemingly perfect husband university lecturer leaves her stating that he's off on a sabbatical and not to contact anyone or tell anyone about his disappearance.
What could be a disastrous turn in a seemingly perfect life could turn out to be not so disastrous.......or could it?
Polly doesnt have much of a social circle to speak of and her kids have their own life....what is she to do.
This is a great holiday read and Maggie Alderson takes us on her typical main characters haphazard but likable twists and turns; the type of which could happen to any of us mere mortals. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read. I listened to the audio version of this book and simply couldnt wait to pick up the story again to see where Polly's next life turn would take her.
I also learned so much about perfumes and noses and all the different aspects of scents as part of reading this book, so thank you to Alderson for your awesome research and teachings in this regard. i also then went out and bought a range of perfumes which more accurately reflect my various moods. Who knew I would be both entertained and educated from reading a novel.
I have always loved reading Alderson's novels they are a great escape from reality and also a great reminder that there is always someone else out there who is doing it tough and leading an equally funny life where they also are constantly planting their feet firmly in their mouth.
A great read!
What could be a disastrous turn in a seemingly perfect life could turn out to be not so disastrous.......or could it?
Polly doesnt have much of a social circle to speak of and her kids have their own life....what is she to do.
This is a great holiday read and Maggie Alderson takes us on her typical main characters haphazard but likable twists and turns; the type of which could happen to any of us mere mortals. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read. I listened to the audio version of this book and simply couldnt wait to pick up the story again to see where Polly's next life turn would take her.
I also learned so much about perfumes and noses and all the different aspects of scents as part of reading this book, so thank you to Alderson for your awesome research and teachings in this regard. i also then went out and bought a range of perfumes which more accurately reflect my various moods. Who knew I would be both entertained and educated from reading a novel.
I have always loved reading Alderson's novels they are a great escape from reality and also a great reminder that there is always someone else out there who is doing it tough and leading an equally funny life where they also are constantly planting their feet firmly in their mouth.
A great read!
November 25, 2017
The Scent of You
By
Maggie Alderson
Now first I have to tell you an odd thing, I have no sense of smell, never have had and neither did my Dad’s mother. This novel is all about scents, how they effect everyday life and attach to special memories. I absolutely loved this book and had my sister waiting to read it after I passed on so many great pages I had read. Not what was on them all, but hints and she kept hearing how much her sister with no sense of smell enjoyed reading it so much.
Polly is a yoga teacher and has a perfume blog with many followers. She reconnects with Chum (Edward Cliddington etc) at the fancy retirement home of his stepfather Bill, and her mother Daphne. Both Polly and Chum went to school together. Polly also has a daughter Clemmie and a son Lucas
as well as a recently missing husband whom Polly has not a clue as to his whereabouts. He has left behind a huge dog Digger and Artemis is Chum’s dog as well as Sorrel, a huge horse. Digger and Artemis become instant best buddies.
This novel has highs and lows as Polly tries to find out where David’s her husband has taken off to. She meets Guy a perfumer while exploring the city and they become close friends. In fact perfumes are a big part of Polly’s entire life. Scent draws many good friends to her family circle.
Friend Maxine, yoga mate and ex husband David’s therapist is another drawn to her, as well as Shirley. Please read this yourself for a satisfying good enjoyable read! I felt I had to review this great book after I was lucky enough to stumble across it on a shelf with many other titles. I just wondered what it was about, took it to the counter and I’m glad I did.
By
Maggie Alderson
Now first I have to tell you an odd thing, I have no sense of smell, never have had and neither did my Dad’s mother. This novel is all about scents, how they effect everyday life and attach to special memories. I absolutely loved this book and had my sister waiting to read it after I passed on so many great pages I had read. Not what was on them all, but hints and she kept hearing how much her sister with no sense of smell enjoyed reading it so much.
Polly is a yoga teacher and has a perfume blog with many followers. She reconnects with Chum (Edward Cliddington etc) at the fancy retirement home of his stepfather Bill, and her mother Daphne. Both Polly and Chum went to school together. Polly also has a daughter Clemmie and a son Lucas
as well as a recently missing husband whom Polly has not a clue as to his whereabouts. He has left behind a huge dog Digger and Artemis is Chum’s dog as well as Sorrel, a huge horse. Digger and Artemis become instant best buddies.
This novel has highs and lows as Polly tries to find out where David’s her husband has taken off to. She meets Guy a perfumer while exploring the city and they become close friends. In fact perfumes are a big part of Polly’s entire life. Scent draws many good friends to her family circle.
Friend Maxine, yoga mate and ex husband David’s therapist is another drawn to her, as well as Shirley. Please read this yourself for a satisfying good enjoyable read! I felt I had to review this great book after I was lucky enough to stumble across it on a shelf with many other titles. I just wondered what it was about, took it to the counter and I’m glad I did.
June 1, 2017
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the gift of this book.
From the perfume bottle on the cover to the very last ‘blog post’ I was in love with this book.
I adore perfume and have well over 50 bottles. Not a day goes by that I’m not wearing perfume.
So I really adored the whole perfume voyage that this story took us on.
The idea of adding Polly’s blog to each chapter was a great way to give us a little more depth into the character and what she was actually thinking and feeling.
This is a story about life and the not so perfect world in which we can find herself.
The husbands story was certainly a shock and one that I’d never expected so that was quite different and unique.
I loved Polly’s mother and can I say now that I want to go into a nursing home like that when the time comes.
Each of the characters in the story and strong characters that blend together really well and seem to support each other in the story and in the story line.
So many little bits of friends and family members I saw in each person and I had quite a giggle when I discovered some friends traits.
Oh how I wanted to google when Polly wouldn’t google. (you’ll get it when you read the book)
This is a beautiful read that will make you stop and smell the roses and everything else around you.
At 502 pages it’s quite a long story but one that you won’t want to end. You will get so involved in this story and not want it to end but the ending was just so perfect and tied everything up so well.
From the perfume bottle on the cover to the very last ‘blog post’ I was in love with this book.
I adore perfume and have well over 50 bottles. Not a day goes by that I’m not wearing perfume.
So I really adored the whole perfume voyage that this story took us on.
The idea of adding Polly’s blog to each chapter was a great way to give us a little more depth into the character and what she was actually thinking and feeling.
This is a story about life and the not so perfect world in which we can find herself.
The husbands story was certainly a shock and one that I’d never expected so that was quite different and unique.
I loved Polly’s mother and can I say now that I want to go into a nursing home like that when the time comes.
Each of the characters in the story and strong characters that blend together really well and seem to support each other in the story and in the story line.
So many little bits of friends and family members I saw in each person and I had quite a giggle when I discovered some friends traits.
Oh how I wanted to google when Polly wouldn’t google. (you’ll get it when you read the book)
This is a beautiful read that will make you stop and smell the roses and everything else around you.
At 502 pages it’s quite a long story but one that you won’t want to end. You will get so involved in this story and not want it to end but the ending was just so perfect and tied everything up so well.
May 6, 2019
Very good book!
This book touched on such much more than just romance. It touched on friendship, and children, and parents, and falling in love the second time. There is a mystery that runs through this story. This is not a psychological thriller. It is a story about a family that cannot make heads nor tails of father who has disappeared. The reason becomes clear towards the end of the book. Once the secret is out there is freedom for everyone. The theme of the book is the wonderful way the heroine uses her sense of smell. She is a blogger who discusses perfumes. She also teaches yoga. Two children are in college and her husband is a professor. It sounds so innocuous but it isn’t. The writing is wonderful and the quirky friends help make the book.
This book touched on such much more than just romance. It touched on friendship, and children, and parents, and falling in love the second time. There is a mystery that runs through this story. This is not a psychological thriller. It is a story about a family that cannot make heads nor tails of father who has disappeared. The reason becomes clear towards the end of the book. Once the secret is out there is freedom for everyone. The theme of the book is the wonderful way the heroine uses her sense of smell. She is a blogger who discusses perfumes. She also teaches yoga. Two children are in college and her husband is a professor. It sounds so innocuous but it isn’t. The writing is wonderful and the quirky friends help make the book.
October 8, 2017
I really loved this book with its very different story line and engaging characters. There wasn't one character who I wasn't interested in and would like to know more about. All of the sub-plots were fascinating: the mystery of Polly's husband, the secrecy surrounding Guy, the hints at Chum's past.
And all of the revelations were satisfying, though some less than others.
I enjoyed the glimpse into Chum's Upper Class life.
I idea of Polly's blog about the scents of her life was very inspired.
I've really enjoyed all of the books I've read from Maggie Alderson and look forward to reading more.
And all of the revelations were satisfying, though some less than others.
I enjoyed the glimpse into Chum's Upper Class life.
I idea of Polly's blog about the scents of her life was very inspired.
I've really enjoyed all of the books I've read from Maggie Alderson and look forward to reading more.
May 24, 2017
An enjoyable read for a perfume lover, and an historian, like me. The slow reveal of what had happened to the husband was well done, and convincing. And if you have ever been caught balancing the needs of your elderly parent/s and your teenage or young adult children, you will identify with Polly's dilemmas. I guess this is a feature of 'middle-aged chick lit'? Happy ending of course. One thing though: it is completely fine to smear perfume gently between your wrists. Really. At most you might speed up the development of the perfume but you will not 'bruise the notes'. Silly notion.
May 9, 2017
A lovely story of friendship, love, and hope.
I was sucked into Polly's world and taken on a beautiful, sometimes not so beautiful, journey with the help of dozens of fragrances that bought a smile to my face. A well written, engrossing tale that I would highly recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley for a ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was sucked into Polly's world and taken on a beautiful, sometimes not so beautiful, journey with the help of dozens of fragrances that bought a smile to my face. A well written, engrossing tale that I would highly recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley for a ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 3, 2018
It's always lovely to find a new favourite author, and I think Maggie Alderson may become one of mine. I thoroughly enjoyed this light relationship read, which had a nice point of difference with the main character's blog running as a thread through the story. If you enjoy authors like Liz Byrski, Katie Fforde, and Nora Roberts, then you too may also enjoy Maggie Alderson.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews