The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi (Review by Amanda Woodruff)

Rating: 5 stars

I have been waiting and waiting for the third book by Alka Joshi to come out. I absolutely loved both the Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur so I knew as soon as I heard The Perfumist was coming out I began counting down the days.
I was so thankful to receive a gifted copy to review.

We continue on with Radha, who is now a grown women and married mother of two, three including the baby Niki she gave up at 13 years old. We experience her internal and external struggle of being a career driven wife, and a mother while trying to find the balance between the two. There are a lot of conflicted feelings about how devoted she is to her work, how long she works, and how much time she dedicates to her craft of becoming a master perfumist. I found myself cheering for her and every vial she mixed. At time I felt like I was sitting right beside her, because the writing and descriptions were so detailed. I was rooting for her to succeed and establish herself within the House Of Yves.

This book transported me to both Paris and India. I felt like that I was walking the streets along with Radha and smelling all the lovely scents with her.
I really appreciated the detail that went into the development of the characters. We saw Radha transform into a strong willed person who didn’t back down and I loved every second of it. It was so different from the Radha we saw before, who was desperate for love and acceptance from anyone and not to be “the bad luck girl”.

Her trip to India was transforming for her professionally and personally. The discoveries she made while there were vital to the story. I was eagerly turning the pages to see what she found and how she connected it to the painting.

I also really enjoyed the fact that characters from the other books made an appearance in this book and we also got to see their character grow and develop.
The return of Niki was heartbreaking and beautiful at all the same time. I liked how delicately the topic was handled and how the progression of the relationship between Radha and Niki happened.

The ending was pure perfection to me! I loved how everything was tied up with a beautiful bow and I love how independent, strong and confident Radha became!

Overall this was a beautiful instalment to an already beautiful series! Well done Alka Joshi for captivating us yet again!

Happy reading everyone