Book of Lost Fragrances (Book Review Club)

The Book of Lost Fragrances
by M.J. Rose
Paranormal Thriller

The intriguing notion at the heart of this book is that an ancient Egyptian fragrance could be the key to unlocking the mysteries of past life.

For generations, the House of L'Etoile in Paris has created exclusive fragrances, but now the business is in trouble. The family patriarch is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and children Robbie and Jac (Jacinth) must find a way to save the company. Jac wants to sell two of their premiere fragrances, but Robbie is certain that if Jac, who has a superior nose, will help him, they can find the lost elusive fragrance of memory. Jac, a skeptic, dismisses his ideas. Robbie has an ulterior motive. A converted Buddhist, he hopes to find the lost frangrance and give it to the Dalai Lama to help the beleaguered Tibetan people. He enlists the help of Griffin North, Jac's former love.

As a child, Jac suffered from schizophrenic episodes made worse by the scents in her father's workroom. (Or were they memories of past lives that the young Jac had no way to process?) Since finding psychological help from Dr. Malachai Samuels, a familiar figure in previous books in this series, she has kept her distance from the family business. Then Robbie disappears from the House of L'Etoile, leaving a dead body behind, and Jac and Griffin must work together to find out what happened.

I really enjoyed this book. The main plot about the lost fragrance is quite fascinating and takes from present day to Ancient Egypt and Revolutionary Paris. The subplot about Chinese attempts to prevent the fragrance from reaching the Dalai Lama complicates matters, as does Malachai Samuels's attempts to obtain the lost memory tool. In previous books, Malachai has been a suspected villain, even coming under FBI surveillance, but he now seems determined to clear his name.

I found the book fascinating, both for plot and the ambience. MJ Rose was clearly inspired by her research into the history of perfume. The book doesn't have the happy ending I wanted but it was satisfying nevertheless. I have read the entire series and this is one of the best, along with The Memorist. I'm hoping there will be more.

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Linda McLaughlin
aka Lyndi Lamont

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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

Book Review Club: Soul Survivor

SOUL SURVIVOR: THE REINCARNATION OF A WORLD WAR II FIGHTER PILOT
by Bruce and Andrea Leininger, with Ken Gross
Grand Central Publishing, 2009

This is the story of a little boy with verifiable past life memories, and it's mindboggling. James Leininger started having intense, screaming nightmares when he was two years old. His parents, Bruce & Andrea, didn't know what to do to make the nightmares stop, but they paid attention and realized that he was screaming, night after night: Airplane crash! Plane on fire! Little man can't get out! When they asked him who the little man was, he said 'me'.

Even at age two, James was obsessed with airplanes and strangely knowledgeable about them. The details he came up with about the doomed pilot were eerie: his name was also James, he'd flown Corsairs, and his ship was the Natoma. He even identified a crew member by name. Bruce went online (this started in 2000, so the web wasn't as sophisticated as it is now) and started to look for answers to what his son was saying. He learned there was a WWII aircraft carrier in the Pacific theater called the Natoma Bay. It took a lot of searching and digging, but they were able to verify everything James said. The paperback copy I bought has photos of the ship and some of the men who served on it as well as pictures of James and his drawings.

At first the book reads like a paranormal detective story. As the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place, it becomes an emotional and spiritual journey for James's parents and for the reader. Bruce, a devout Christian, fought hard against the idea that his son was remembering a past life, so we get the skeptic's point of view. Bruce became an expert on the Natoma Bay, even attending the annual reunions and getting to know the vets and their surviving family members. But in the end, it was all about James. The ending is very emotional and heart-warming.

This is just an amazing story about a remarkable little boy, his loving and determined parents and the veterans and family of the Natoma Bay. If you already believe in reincarnation, this book will reinforce those beliefs. If not, it will give you something to think about. We may never be able to prove reincarnation one way or another, but James's memories provide compelling evidence for the theory of past lives. In any case, his story will touch your heart and soul.

Linda

Note: If any of this sounds familiar, you may have seen the story that aired on ABC's Prime Time on April 15, 2004. You can view it here: http://www.soulsurvivor-book.com/interview.html

Related article: Child Psychiatrist Says Past-Life Memories Not So Uncommon in Kids http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2232830

Related books (all available from Amazon.com:

Children's Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child by Carol Bowman, Bantam, 1998

Life Before Life: Children's Memories of Previous Lives by Dr. Jim Tucker, St. Martin's Press, 2008

Old Souls: Compelling Evidence from Children Who Remember Past Lives by Tom Shroder, Simon and Schuster, 1999, pbk 2001

Click icon for more book review blogs @Barrie Summy