A Novel of Perfume and Passion: Scent of Triumph (Book review)

by: Elena Vosnaki

"The next morning Danielle awoke with the sun. She bathed and dressed in a secondhand brown tweed suit from London. She wished she could have bought some of her mother's chic couture clothes from Lanvin and Lucien Lelong, but they'd left Paris so quickly. She was thankful they'd managed to escape at all. Her family was safe here; Heinrich couldn't harm them in America. She peered into an old mirror. Or could he? His threats echoed in her mind. She thought of the underground resistance in Europe—did the Nazis have a similar spy network in America? She trailed a fresh floral perfume she'd created—one she'd taken from Philippe's before they'd fled—along her neck and wrists. Honeysuckle and freesia with a touch of bergamot. Then she hurried to prepare her family for the day."

Jan Moran
 

The above excerpt from Jan Moran's novel Scent of Triumph, out on March 31st from St.Martin's Press, tells you everything you need to know about this mingling of historical account, glamor puss daydreaming and romantic fiction.

Moran, no stranger to either the business or the writing part of it (she holds both an MBA from Harvard Business School and she attended the University of California at Los Angeles Extension Writer's Program), is best known to perfumephiles for herFabulous Fragrances I and II and for her beauty application for Sephora stores, Scentsa. In Scent of Triumph she weaves a thread of romance threatened by the hardship, violence and espionage of World War II as a woman sets her own business involving perfume and fashion. The year is 1939. On a luxurious ocean-liner returning to England from New York, French perfumer Danielle Betancourt and her husband learn of the declaration of the Second World War on the European continent. In a race to find their families, most importantly their son, Danielle embarks on a journey through London, Paris and eventually into occupied Poland, while her husband joins the war. Gathering the fragments of her impoverished family, Danielle escapes to Los Angeles and vows to begin a new life. The defining detail which makes all the difference is that auburn haired Danielle von Hoffman, née Betancourt, is 1/4 Jewish by heritage, if yet baptized a Catholic, a fact which complicates matters and makes for some expected nail-biting while reading. Alongside Danielle, we too know only too well what the bell toll meant for Jewish families in Nazi occupied countries ...

But Danielle is set to make a difference and in classic American spirit the new page is always most exciting and less contrived than the old world. America is the land of opportunity where Danielle will thrive thanks to her magical central-to-the-plot fragrance, Chimère, which is "one of Lana Turner's favorites. Ginger Rogers too," as the sales pitch at the chic department store delivers.

Scent of Triumph interweaves some colorful fictional characters, like the suave Cameron Murphy, with the rather more cliché ones (the Nazi acolyte Heinrich, Danielle's nemesis) alongside some real life historical figures making a cameo appearance, like US gossip queen Hedda Hopper or iconic designer Coco Chanel: 

"She noticed an elegant woman attired in a couture suit, layers of pearls, and a chic black hat. It was Mademoiselle Chanel, who was known as Coco, the couturiere who lived at the Ritz near her rue Cambon atelier, which was now closed. She was so close she could smell her perfume, No. 5. She sucked in her breath. Marie knew her quite well.

Do I dare approach her? Averting her face, she decided to wait as she'd been told. After she passed by, Danielle saw a German officer greet her with a kiss."

The perfume parts in the novel are not extensive, encompassing details which the seasoned perfume lover surely knows: the smashing of a bottle by François Coty when trying to launch a business partnership with retailers so as to induce shoppers to ask what that smell is, the breakdown of the fragrance pyramid when parsing fragrances, the details about jasmine blossom gathering before dawn so that the flowers retain their dewy narcotic lushness, the sporadic mentions of competitors' fragrances, such as Tabac Blond ... Perhaps in a knowing wink to this fact, Moran chose to add an introductory "frontispiece," so to speak, ahead of each chapter, a few lines with a scented interest: the god messenger Iris accounts for the namesake rhizome used in perfumery, the symphonic character of a perfume, the animal sources of the classic perfumes, and such, presented as notes from the diary of Danielle Betancourt. They usually flow into context, with only oud's parallel of decay at the core of Europe with the fungus which eats the tree bark seemingly a tad forced.

The book is presented in the press material likening the style to the heroine's namesake best-selling author, Danielle Steel. I admit I have never read a Danielle Steel book (clearly something Steel shouldn't bother with, yet itmakes me feel I have missed the boat), though I can roughly imagine how it goes, judging by its feminine focus and romantic nature. Moran's novel is light, flowing yet quite engaging, supremely suitable for holiday reading and belonging to the important 16% market share of historical romance (as per the Romance Writers of America data). I can well see how the historical angle gives added interest to the plot; WWII isn't as popular a referent for nothing, its repercussions and its long, dark shadow felt even today.

It is perhaps this element which accounts for some of the best writing by Moran in the book. Without giving any more spoilers, I will leave you with the scene where Sofia is executed, gaining time for her beloved to make their necessary escape ....

"The first shot burned into her, robbing her breath and shattering her ribs with the force of steel, and yet, she felt strangely little pain. It must be shock, she thought, as the sweet, smoky smell of gunpowder rose to her nostrils. Then she felt her own warm blood flowing onto her freezing skin. Run, Jacob, run, she screamed in her mind. Another shot buckled her legs and she sank to her knees. Her arms were still stretched wide, hovering against the pain seizing her body. The longer she took to die, the farther away Nicky and Jacob and the others could be. Run, run, run. With Heinrich at the forefront, the soldiers advanced on her. They seemed perplexed by her, a dying woman, whose curious, proud  actions stalled them for another moment. Sofia closed her eyes as they came closer. A metal barrel jammed against her skull. She knew to whom it belonged. God forgive him. The noise was deafening. A bright, opalescent light flooder her being. As she soared high above the treetops, she could see Jacob racing through the forest below with Nicky by his side, the little boy's expression fierce ... running far, far away. An indescribable peace set in, covering her like a whisper-soft cashmere blanket, coddling her frail limps. Warmth spread throughout her body for the first time in these frigid winter months. The iridescent glow spread from her limbs to encompass her, bathing her very being in a shimmering white light that shone with such clarity. So beautiful, so transparent, so ethereal. Her pain dissolved and fell to earth, like chains cast aside. She could breathe without effort, sweetly perfumed air refreshed and revived. Through the pearly white haze, she could see Danielle, who seemed to be writing in pain. Such pain. Sofia went to her and tried to comfort her, but only briefly, for she knew it was time to go."

Scent of Triumph by Jan Moran comes on sale on March 31, 2015 from St.Martin's Press
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-250-04890-5
retail price: $15.99