M.J. Rose

Pope Joan. Is she a legend from the Middle Ages or a true historical anomaly? Did she really disguise herself as a man, working her way up the ladder of the clergy until Popedom – only to be discovered as female when she gave birth on horseback? Was she then murdered by an angry mob?

Imagine if we had a female Pope today. How would she be received in our age? With respect or disdain?

Learn more about the enigmatic tale (or reality?) of Pope(ess) Joan, 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

This is a beautiful and heartbreaking story. Fascinating beyond imagination. A story that would make a most interesting and eye-catching film – Who wants to write the screenplay?

For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II

In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga

“Siberian summers do not last long. The snows linger into May, and the cold weather returns again during September, freezing the taiga into a still life awesome in its desolation: endless miles of straggly pine and birch forests scattered with sleeping bears and hungry wolves; steep-sided mountains; white-water rivers that pour in torrents through the valleys; a hundred thousand icy bogs. This forest is the last and greatest of Earth’s wildernesses. It stretches from the furthest tip of Russia’s arctic regions as far south as Mongolia, and east from the Urals to the Pacific: five million square miles of nothingness, with a population, outside a handful of towns, that amounts to only a few thousand people.

When the warm days do arrive, though, the taiga blooms, and for a few short months it can seem almost welcoming. It is then that man can see most clearly into this hidden world—not on land, for the taiga can swallow whole armies of explorers, but from the air…”

Read more here.
Follow: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter