Perfumes, Plots and Past Lives

I picked up a book the other day in the genre I write, past lives and suspense. I was intrigued when I read the prologue where it noted something that I had found ridiculous when I had originally heard about it in 2007.

In an attempted power grab, China announced that all living Buddhas (Dalai Lama) had to obtain permission before they reincarnated (How ridiculous!) They are attempting to bring an end to the Tibetan mystical/religious system of reincarnating Buddhas that dates back to the 12^th century.

That is only one link in the chain of this story.

The Book of Lost Fragrances (by M.J. Rose) is about perfumes, scent masters and the ancient art of perfumery. It’s about love, suspense, memory and past lives. The core of the story starts in Eqypt when Cleopatra had her own perfume master create scents for her alone. In present day, where the bulk of the story takes place, scent is at the heart of the Tibetan issue of identifying the next Buddha.

I was intrigued with the romance of a story based on scent. In my youth I had a very sensitive nose. Scent could bring memories sharply into focus whenever I smelled an odor associated with some memorable experience—good or bad. So I was drawn to read this book, but its influence did not stop at the story’s end.

I thought about perfumes, especially the one I wear now, and began doing some research. Many fragrance ‘notes’ go into making a scent. There are top notes, middle notes and base notes—all different scents that come out at different times in the life of the perfume during the hours of a day.

I thought about the life of a perfume as an analogy/metaphor/simile for writing a novel or reading fiction that pleases us. There’s the top notes—the first impression that grabs our attention. It peaks our interest and draws us in until the middle notes take over. The middle notes are secondary scents—that make us want to keep reading; searching for the next clue in a plot with its twists and turns, hopeful that it will be satisfactorily resolved. Then we spend a little time with the end notes. Knowing the book is almost over, we seek to savor the final moments for as long as we can, finally leaving us reflecting and yearning for more after we close the book.

(Now that’s a book I want to write as well as read.)

Like a book, it is hard to get rid of an old perfume bottle that holds/held a beloved scent that still retains pleasant memories. I perused the perfume bottles I have on my dresser, and wondered what changed that caused me to find a new scent and then another and another during the years. Like the individuality of a perfume, we choose books that fill us up and round out our edges but our tastes can change as we grow. Our “signature scent” needs to be adjusted.

Just as I’ve changed perfumes, I’ve gone through periods of reading mysteries/thrillers, romantic suspense, science fiction, gothic tales, historical fiction, etc.

There may be many of the same “scent notes” in the new perfume, but with different additions or adjustments. I was curious about the ingredients in my present and past perfumes. I learned that scents have been altered by the needs of a changing world. Some ingredients once derived from certain plants or animals, can no longer be used for many reasons, so now they must be chemically manufactured—a noticeable change for one with a sensitive nose. I have changed perfumes when they no longer represented “me.”

How have you changed in your reading or perfume tastes?

Do you have many perfumes or just one, or one at a time? Do you feel it represents you?

Care to share the name? I presently wear 5th Avenue by Elizabeth Arden.