The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister
Kindle & Audible: US or CA
Morning Readers & Happy Thursday!
I’m running a bit behind on reading this week with all the birthday week activities, but I have to say it was the best birthday yet. 35 kicked off with a day spent at the Nordik spa with my favorite partner in crime, a family dinner with my mom’s infamous ‘peanut butter chicken’ (right in the childhood feels), and an evening picnic in Montreal with the girls.
But onto today’s review, The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister.
This is a lyrical coming-of-age novel about Emmeline, a young girl who grows up on a remote island with her father. He teaches her about the world through the power of scents, using mysterious bottles that capture and preserve them.
When tragedy strikes, Emmeline is thrust into the outside world, where she must navigate love, loss, and family secrets while unraveling the mystery of her father’s past- and her own. The story blends sensory detail, magical realism, and emotional exploration, asking how memories, scents, and the truth shape who we become.
The thing I loved most about this book was the unique perspective of the main character, Emmeline. She interprets the world around her primarily through her keen sense of smell, and seeing how the author translates that into the story, plot and her writing style was so interesting. Having a character that does not experience their story through sight and visual observation was one of the most unique takes I’ve read.
One small critique I would have would be that in character development, as reaction tendencies seem to be consistent and unchanging, despite Emmeline’s observation of those same tendencies in other characters. There was only one character that seems to really show change against their initial introduction.
Some of my Favorite Quotes:
“The days grew shorter and shorter, until finally the world tipped and the balance shifted back in the other direction. A change was coming- I could smell it. It was like the rustling in your dreams before you finally wake up in the morning. That gentle tug on the strings of gravity as the slack tide changes direction and starts to pull you out to sea”
“All I knew that day on the beach was that my father had told me a lie. I didn’t stop of ask whether that lie was for me or him or both of us. Whether his stories were to make reality go away or bring it closer.”
“This is what now smells like”
“Grief makes a tunnel of our lives, and it is all too easy to lose sight of the other people in the darkness with us- to wish they weren’t there, so their loss would stop running up against ours”
“Maridel’s face was sad, but set. “You don’t know what you’ll do until you’re there Emmeline. And you’re a long way from there.”
“Coco Chanel used to say, ‘Dress shabbily and they remember the dress. Dress impeccably and they remember the woman.’”
“It’s simple, Emmeline. Nobody respects you if all you care about is what they think.”
Overall a really enjoyable, interesting read whose focus on the unique perspective of the main character really brought it that notch above for me. Would definitely recommend this as a classroom or book club read, as I think it would generate a lot of discussion topics.
I hope you all are having a great week so far, Happy Reading!
-Anna R.
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Kindle & Audible: US or CA
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