Scent of Darkness

November 15, 2012
The bequest of a mysterious vial transforms a woman into a scent seductress. Evangeline, whose grandmother Louise has just died, does not consider herself particularly beautiful or talented. Louise, who was known to practice dark arts, leaves Evangeline her house in upstate New York (Louise moved from New Orleans years before). When Evangeline enters a room she vowed never to unlock, she discovers a small bottle of perfume, which, when applied, imparts an irresistible scent. Suddenly, Gabriel, a man previously out of her league, is her lover, and together, they move to New Orleans where he is a medical student. Once there, Evangeline encounters all manner of signs and omens, such as a dire tarot-card prophecy that she will spread evil and break hearts. The city itself, forever hot and steamy, echoes Evangeline's turbulent state of mind as she finds herself inexorably drawn to Gabriel's friend, Michael Bon Chance, a charismatic but mediocre painter who seeks to exploit Evangeline's fragrance to catapult him into the upper echelons of the art world. At Michael's triumphant show, consisting mainly of nudes of Evangeline painted without her knowledge, Gabriel walks away in disgust. Before Evangeline can explain, a dog bites her, and the wound festers. (Bringing out aggression in dogs is an unfortunate side effect of her pheromone-rich aura.) Now she must rely on the quirky 14-year-old son of a neighbor she has never met to take her to his grandmother, who practices her own version of the dark arts. Evangeline soon finds that her olfactory attractiveness does not compensate for the yawning void in her soul, but she will be hard-pressed to learn the lesson Louise intended to impart with her gift. Although evoking the peculiar exoticism of New Orleans with precision, Berwin's prose labors hard to impart profundity to what is basically a pastiche of gothic staples (the forbidden room, the never-seen invalid mother, etc.). An overly stylized parable with intermittent flashes of pleasant spookiness.

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September 15, 2012

Berwin follows her over-the-top best-selling debut, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire, optioned for film by Julia Roberts, with a new novel about 18-year-old Evangeline, whose grandmother creates a perfume for her that makes her irresistible.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2013
Berwin follows Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire (2009) with a tale about the mysterious and luscious world of the aromata, professional perfume makers. Evangeline, Eva for short, loves spending the summer with her aromata grandmother, Louise, who works in a closed, empty room, trying to capture the scent of things like joy or shadows. Sometimes she is even successful in these efforts, but she will never share her secrets. When she dies, Louise leaves her house to 18-year-old Eva, who finds a handsome local med student, Gabriel, studying in the kitchen. As they explore the rambling house together, Eva grows more enamored of Gabriel every day. He finally convinces her to go into Louise's sanctuary, the room where she made her scents, where Eva finds a gift for herself, a scent all her own. But a note warns her that if she removes the stopper, everything will change. The unexpected soon follows. Berwin's prose is poetic and measured, and her enchanting novel will leave readers searching for a scent of their own.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)