Scented Snippets New Book Review - Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent by Mandy Aftel

by: Ida Meister

I was very grateful when Mandy Aftel graciously sent me a copy of her latest bookFragrant.

Mandy devoted many years to its preparation, culling from sacred and profane texts, all manner of scholarly sources [way too numerous to recount! Check out her bibliography!!!] -  in order to regale and enlighten us with an historical and anthropological eye toward our cravings and olfactory connection to the world as we experience it.
She achieves this through the medium of five aromatic protagonists:

Cinnamon – represents the yearning for the rare, the exotic unknown, a true luxury discovered via perilous travels, worth risking life and limb;

Mint – cultivated the world over, mint echoes the familiar, redolent of home and comfort;

Frankincense – so enmeshed with ancient ritual and spiritual observance / practice, it is this fragrant material which plumbs our deepest desire for the preeminent, for transcendence;

Ambergris – more than the result of sea mammalian intestinal troubles caused by cuttlefish [squid], ambergris embodies our sense of awe and fascination with the unusual and stinky aspects of the animal world and its wonders – our insatiable curiosity;

Jasmine – this sublime blossom epitomizes our craving for beauty both timeless and ephemeral.

It is apparent how much hunger for life, wisdom, and beauty moves Mandy in her exploration of these  essences [and others related] as she reveals the musings and philosophy of scripture, prominent thinkers, historians and writers [Diane Ackerman, Charles Baudelaire, Michael Ondaatje, John Fowles, Oscar Wilde and Herman Melville, for starters].

We follow Mandy's evolution as a perfumer, and the path which led her to becoming a leading authority on natural perfumery: from weaver to psychotherapist to biographer of the late Rolling Stone Brian Jones, author, and master natural perfumer and educator [I'm fairly certain that there is a lot more than that!].

Masterful storytelling awaits within the pages of Fragrant. We are treated to natural history, adventure, the enmeshing of scent with human civilization.
I am a gluttonous lover of stories of all kinds, and found myself thoroughly engrossed while reading this book.

True to character, Mandy shares the how-to's of perfumery: tincturing, recipes and suggestions for creating cunning fragrances from each of the five components, helpful tips for their use in cooking, mixology – you name it. This cornucopia of information is delivered to us engagingly, summoning all of our senses in the process. Scholarly meets sensual, intellectual meets tempestuous, the creative marries the practical.

The illustrations and cover art alone would be worth the purchase of this precious volume; they possess a life all their own. Each detail is lovingly attended to, from the utilization of font to the choice of historical drawings.  Mandy has always been meticulous and highly specific regarding her work; it is delight, not the devil – in the details.

I was unable to resist.
Somehow this rendition by Leonard Cohen, performed with feeling and experiential veracity - personifies, for me, Mandy's essence. I'll gladly risk being viewed as overly-sentimental.

Mandy - you radiate love, mystery, sentience, sensuality.
This song's for you <3