M.J. Rose

M.J. was on a blog tour last year for THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES (now in paperback) and she guest blogged about lost fragrances as she went! (Tune in often as we post more links to her numerous delicious posts. Your senses will thank you!)

…And so, here’s a peek at M.J.’s Guest Post at Mrs. Q Book Addict on the unforgettable Weil – Cassandra…

“M.J. Rose: I’ve been fascinated with lost fragrances since long before I started writing The Book of Lost Fragrances… since I found a bottle of perfume on my great grandmother’s dresser that had belonged to her mother in Russia. Here is one of those lost fragrances that stirs the senses and the imagination… (researched and described with the help of the perfume writer Dimitrios Dimitriadis)….”

For the complete post about Weil – Cassandra click here.

Curious about what lost perfumes were like? Author M.J. Rose spent a few months touring the blogosphere last year, and she left behind a gorgeous trail of guest posts about lost fragrances…

Now that the paperback of THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES is out, we are publishing her guest posts here at The Museum of Mysteries. Enjoy! (Tune in often as we post more links to her numerous delicious posts. Your senses will thank you!)

…And so, here’s a peek at M.J.’s lush Guest Post at Mystery Fanfare on GUERLAIN…

“Researching The Book of Lost Fragrances was a labor of love. One of the most wonderful parts was working with a famous blogger, Dimi of The Sorcery of Scent. He helped me find out about fragrances that have been lost to us and what they smelled like. 

I thought it would interesting for us to tell you about one of them.

Guerlain first focused on verveine (verbena) varieties to use in perfumes in the mid-late 1800’s. Eau de Verveine was released first in the 1870’s and made brief reappearances in the 1950s and the 1980s before being retired from Guerlain’s perfume portfolio. Eau de Verveine is the scent of high summer… sharp, uplifting notes of citrus-green lemon verbena flood the mouth with saliva with their crisp, energising aroma….”

For her complete post about GUERLAIN click here.

Here’s some exciting news: M.J.’s novel, THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES, is coming out in trade paperback today.

THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES was the Indie Next Pick for March of last year, Best of 2012 – Suspense Magazine, and Best of Spring Mystery/Suspense PW and Amazon – with a starred and boxed PW review.

In case you have not read the book yet, here is the story straight from M.J.:

“Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, was fascinated with and some say obsessed by scent. Marc Anthony built her a fragrance factory and the famous queen was said to have kept a recipe book for her perfumes, entitled Cleopatra gynaeciarum libri. That book has been described in writings by historians Dioscorides, Homer and Pliny the Elder.

No known copy of the book exists today.

That missing book stirred my imagination and became the seed for THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES. While writing, to remain in the world of the novel, I burned incense and my favorite candles – those created by Frederick Boucharday. When the novel was finished I searched out Boucharday to give him a copy of the yet to be published novel.

Boucharday was intstantly intrugued by THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES. First, as a reader, he said he was taken with the mystery and romance of the story. In my tale scent plays a strong role when it comes to ones memory. Boucharday, who creates using oils and classic ingredients, said that it spoke to him as a perfumer.

The ancient fictional fragrance at the heart of my novel is called, Âmes Sœurs, which means “Soul Mates” in French. Inspired by the book, Boucharday has brought the scent to life with his version of Âmes Sœurs , the scent of soul mates. Âmes Sœurs hints of Frankincense, Myrrh, Orange Blossom and Jasmine. It’s smoky uncommon finish suggests the past and the future, and lost souls reunited.

In what I hope will be a perfect combination of fragrance, fact and fiction, Boucharday and I have brought both perfume and storytelling to a new place.”

Here are some of the excellent reviews we mentioned! –

“Compelling… suspenseful tale. Once you catch a whiff, you will be enchanted”. —Associated Press

“Enthralling… A supple and elegant thriller…There is simply no more daring writer than MJ Rose, and her blisteringly original The Book of Lost Fragrance shows why.” —Providence Journal

“Provocative…a sweeping sense of romance and history.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A time-defying journey filled with passion and danger…A kaleidoscope of memorable characters and exotic locales.” —Shelf-Awareness.com

“Rose has entered another realm and written what is bound to be one of this year’s best books.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Deliciously sensual novel of paranormal suspense.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred and Boxed Review