The year is 1738. The place, Paris. A baby is born beneath a fish-monger’s bloody table and abandoned. Orphaned and placed with monks, the infant unsettles his caretakers: his wet nurse finds that he has no scent. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille survives against the odds and, though he lacks a personal odor, possesses an absolute sense of smell—able to read objects’ composition, histories, and whereabouts in a world where darkness conceals nothing from him.
As Grenouille matures he studies the art of perfumery, creating fragrances that become the rage of Paris and Europe. Then he withdraws into solitude to pursue a singular obsession: to identify and isolate the scent of life itself. His quest leads him from savage exile through the countryside and back to Paris as he seeks to distill the perfect perfume from the most beautiful young virgins, setting in motion a rising storm of terror whose final triumph yields horrifying consequences.
Pick a format, then compare retailer prices. The main button points to the preferred option for the selected format.
In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille’s genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood.
Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the “ultimate perfume”—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
Join bks.social’s reader list for book recommendations, reader updates, featured titles, and occasional community news. No noise. Just the important things.
A concise view of the book’s strongest literary signals and the reading interests shared by people connected to it on bks.social.
G-NRIS™ identifies Perfume primarily as Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Psychological Thriller. Its strongest themes include Obsession, Identity, Morality and Consequences, Isolation, and Art and Science. Prominent narrative patterns include Obsession with Perfection, The Outsider, Dark Quest, and Mad Scientist/Artist.
Readers connected to this book most often reflect Psychological Moral Explorer reader archetypes. Their strongest shared genre interests include Historical Fiction, Thriller, Self-Help, and Literary Fiction. They are commonly drawn to themes such as gaming, technology, Seeking Dark Psychological Tension, and Exploring The Fractured Self.
Visit bks.social’s Book Hub for reader discussions, reviews, posts, quotes, questions, reading activity, related books, and G-NRIS story intelligence.
