The Perfume Thief

A Novel

By: Timothy Schaffert

Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki

A stylish, sexy page-turner set in Paris on the eve of World War II, where Clementine, a queer American ex-pat and notorious thief, is drawn out of retirement and into one last scam when the Nazis invade.

"A hint of Moulin Rouge, a whiff of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, a little spritz of Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief... The Perfume Thief is a pulse-pounding thriller and a sensuous experience you’ll want to savor."—Oprah Daily

"[A] superb novel ... This is historical fiction at its finest, vivid and beautifully rendered." —Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Sea of Tranquility

Clementine is a seventy-two year-old reformed con artist with a penchant for impeccably tailored suits. Her life of crime has led her from the uber-wealthy perfume junkies of belle epoque Manhattan, to the scented butterflies of Costa Rica, to the spice markets of Marrakech, and finally the bordellos of Paris, where she settles down in 1930 and opens a shop bottling her favorite extracts for the ladies of the cabarets.

Now it's 1941 and Clem's favorite haunt, Madame Boulette's, is crawling with Nazis, while Clem's people--the outsiders, the artists, and the hustlers who used to call it home--are disappearing. Clem's first instinct is to go to ground--it's a frigid Paris winter and she's too old to put up a fight. But when the cabaret's prize songbird, Zoe St. Angel, recruits Clem to steal the recipe book of a now-missing famous Parisian perfumer, she can't say no. Her mark is Oskar Voss, a Francophile Nazi bureaucrat, who wants the book and Clem's expertise to himself. Hoping to buy the time and trust she needs to pull off her scheme, Clem settles on a novel strategy: Telling Voss the truth about the life and loves she came to Paris to escape.

Complete with romance, espionage, champagne towers, and haute couture, this full-tilt sensory experience is a dazzling portrait of the underground resistance of twentieth-century Paris and a passionate love letter to the power of beauty and community in the face of insidious hate.

Best book….

Of the year. The story is incredible, as is the writing and the narration. I was sorry when it ended and brought me back to reality.

Incredible writing and story

This interesting story is one of the very best examples of creative writing I have read which has been recently written. It all takes place in one world superimposed on another with various other worlds, or ways of existence, layered within each other. The delicate way in which all of the pieces of these worlds fit together is pure artistry. The writing is so fine that the emotions feel personal even to someone who cannot personally relate to the circumstances. I do not feel so much that I understand the way the characters must have felt living in such shadows as I feel like the book articulates universal feelings which is part of its magic. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is good and why? What should matter most?

Entertaining Characters

Interesting listen surrounding a fictional first-person account WWII Parisian gay/bisexual American woman. I enjoyed the setting and the characters, especially the Josephine Baker-type. It got off to a strong start due to the narrator's sultry Marlene Dietrich reminiscent reading. The narrator was very good at handling the many accents, and with a lesser narrator, I think I might've given up sooner on the book. The reason for my hesitancy to recommend this? I felt the book needed a good strong handed editor to slash the extraneous material. I felt the plot line was weak; and the climax of the story not satisfying. But, the ambiance and the dialogue was very good; again, dealt with deftly by the narrator.

Enlightening

This book revealed so much. Another aspect of the heroes of WWII. Narration so in character

Boring

Poorly conceived, written and performed. Don’t waste your money or credits. After several chapters I tossed it.