It's the last book in the trilogy where we find out Radha's story. It's 1974, she has a budding career as a perfumer, lives with her demanding husband Pierre, and two rambunctious daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago. When she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to create a custom scent, she travels back to Agra and enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the local courtesans - women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully managed world and threatening to destroy a vulnerable marriage.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint! I loved the interwoven French and Indian cultures. I also loved learning more about the courtesans and how elegant they seemed. I related to Radha's struggle to balance work and motherhood - I think most mothers can relate. I sooo wish I could smell the different scents that were referred to and the various combinations she created. This trilogy is a must read for anyone who wants to travel to India without leaving the comfort of their home.

Thanks to my friends at HTP for the review copy!

As the title indicates, the setting for the third novel in the Jaipur series is Paris, France. The year is 1974, and Lakshmi’s younger sister Radha is now a grown woman with a family of her own. Like many women of that era, she is juggling the demands of traditional marriage, motherhood and a career. She is also burdened by secrets from her past, which she has kept hidden from almost everyone. While on a business trip to India she not only finds the key to what she’s been searching for in a work assignment, but she discovers that her secrets will not be hidden for much longer. A time of reckoning has been thrust upon her, and decisions must be made.

Although mostly set in Paris, this third title in the trilogy has a tone that is similar to The Henna Artist. The plot is very character-driven and follows the actualization of a young woman who is also trying to make her way in the world. There is less subterfuge than in The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, but Radha’s secrets have significant consequences in her life. Author Alka Joshi’s writing continues to be enthralling. Fans of the Netflix program Emily in Paris will find several elements in common with this novel, which is an asset. The individuals with whom Radha interacts are distinct and well-drawn. Her French as well as Indian relationships were contrasting in many ways, and I found them to be interesting and realistic.

Although the time period is set many decades ago, I didn’t feel alienated from their issues. In some senses much has changed since the 1970s, but it remains true today that men and women alike struggle with the home-work life balance. It’s possible to “want it all” in the area of love, career and family, but there are limits to each arena. Radha pushes those limits, sometimes to their breaking points. The resolutions she finds are not always perfectly neat and tidy, but they are authentic to the character and the book series.

The Perfumist of Paris is an interesting examination of the life of a young Indian woman and the repercussions of her choices past and present. The narrative arc that began in The Henna Artist is brought to a satisfying conclusion in ways that were captivating and unpredictable. I read all three novels in short succession, picking up the second and third titles as soon as I finished the previous one. In effect, this trilogy was a single 1,100-page work for me. While my worldviews and values may differ with Joshi’s characters, nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. A Netflix series is in the works, and I am thrilled that it has been optioned for this. Alka Joshi’s work is a treasure, and I wish her continued success.

The third in the series starting with the Henna Artist, Joshi continues the saga of Lakshmi and Radha. I love these two characters, for their strength and their ability to face their harsh pasts. Radha lives in Paris with her husband, Pierre and her two daughters. Working as a perfumist, Radha hopes to become a master perfumer. Lakshmi is in India, still working with her healing garden. Past mistakes find their way back to impact their lives, particularly Radha’s, as she is forced to confront them head on, Florence, Radha’s mother-in-law, is one of those characters you love to hate until you realize their depth and their life challenges. I loved the book, and highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. This review appears immediately on GoodReads.
This book is already published by the time I requested this, so my review will be brief. Full disclosure that I read The Henna Artist, but not the second book. I know people will wonder if these can be read out of order or as a stand alone. The short answer is no and yes. You could read these as a standalone as Joshi does a good job detailing the back story of the characters, but you would not want to read these out of order. I had read book one and made perfect sense out of the third book, but do wish I read the second. So you COULD read them as a standalone, but I wouldnt recommend this.
You should know that these books are wonderfully written and Joshi has clearly taken much care in her research. The back of the book has a glossary since there are multiple languages spoken in the book. There is also a thorough authors note in the back as well. For ereaders, this is a drag, but for physical book readers, I am afraid we will all start flipping to the back first with all of these wonderful authors notes being written!!
The characters are likeable, the story is propelling. We did Henna Artist in book club which would still be my pick if you could only do one in book club, but this one also has a lot to say.
4+ stars

I have enjoyed this whole trilogy, but this might be my favorite of them. Even though Radha at times seems like she hasn't matured past 15. It's what happens when you don't deal with a major life event and keep it locked away, but we all know things never stay locked away. I loved how she wanted to have her own career and she was passionate about it. She wanted to be the best at what she did, so she studied. and worked hard. It finally paid off when she was offered the ability to create a fragrance for a client. This sends her back to India in search of the perfect sent.
I loved learning about the perfume industry and how scents are created. How it's all done through perfume houses. I loved the relationship between Lakshmi and Radha even if they had things they needed to move from given their complex history. It is a powerful story about love, loss, and hope.

As far as the trilogy goes this is my least favorite. We started the series off with Lakshmi and she was still a major part of the story in the second book. In this one she is hardly seen and the only perspective we get is from her sister, Radha. And Radha’s story wasn’t as gripping as the other two in the series. I loved the bits with Radha’s job as a perfumist. It was so interesting to hear about the different layers of perfume and how the scents work together. I also enjoyed how much scent played a role in the story. As someone who still tears up to this day when I smell scents that remind me of my Granny and Grandma I fully connected to how much scent meant to Radha.

However, a big aspect of Radha’s story is her shaky marriage to a man that doesn’t support her working outside the home. I found all that to be boring and it took away from the escapism of the story. I know that it is unfortunately something some women still deal with today but it wasn’t something that grabbed me. And while I wasn’t sure how I felt about the resolution of a plot point that was started in the first book, by the end I found it beautiful. While I think all the conflict ended way too easily and nicely, I have been loving these characters for the past few years so I was fully immersed in it all.

The Perfumist of Paris is not a book I would recommend on its own but as the conclusion of trilogy I absolutely loved the ending. It was a wonderful way to leave the characters and I admire how Joshi left it. It must be so hard to write a story about a family from different perspectives carrying over several decades and overall I think she balanced it well. Radha was never my favorite character but I am leaving this book understanding more of her choices and I love the growth she had.

I'll gush a moment about this book. Joshi's prose is beautiful and readers of the trilogy will be pleased to see the characters, especially, Radha come full circle. I loved both the Jaipur and Paris settings.

The Perfumist of Paris is the third book in a series that began in Jaipur, India. The present plot takes place in 1970s Paris where Radha is now the main character. She's married to Pierre, a Frenchman and they have two daughters. She's working for a a master perfumist and enjoys her work immensely, to the chagrin of her husband and mother-in-law.

I liked the way the characters (who were protagonists in the other books) play supporting roles in this book as it fleshes out the story satisfyingly. This is not a standalone novel, I would recommend reading the first two books in the series.

The journey these women took to reach their goals was fascinating and this book brings the story to a enjoyable conclusion.

The Perfumist of Paris is the third and final book in The Jaipur Trilogy. This is Radha's story. We met Radha in the first book, The Henna Artist where she is brought to Jaipur by Lakshmi's estranged husband. Radha is her sister, a sister she knew nothing about. She tried to raise her properly, but Radha refuses to follow Lakshmi's direction and ends up pregnant by a boy from a noble family. She has the baby who is adopted by one of Lakshmi's customers. She then meets a Frenchman, Pierre and runs off to Paris with him and they get married. Now many years later, she has two children and is working as a perfumist in a well known perfume house. She goes back to Jaipur to learn about the ancient scents from home meeting up with her sister and the women of Agra. She never tells Pierre about her first child, although she still misses him. Pierre is upset with Radha, not understanding why she is not content to stay home with her daughters. As she begins to learn more and develop scents to take back to Paris, she finds out that her son is on his way to Paris to meet and confront his "mother".

I was happy to see that this book gave us Radha's story. After she disappeared in the first book, I wondered what had happened to her. I love the detail that Alka Joshi includes in her books. I learn so much about Indian culture over the years reading these books. The description of the markets, the scents and the process was fascinating. In this book we learn more about Radha's past before she came to live with Lakshmi and it was heartbreaking. Radha is a strong woman, but still lives under the beliefs and values that she has developed over her lifetime and makes decisions based on that. This is a book not only about being a perfumist and customs and cultures in 1974, but about the struggles of real women, women who work, are judged by family and spouses and the guilt of leaving their children for their jobs. I love that this book is about finding yourself and making your own decisions about your life and happiness. I enjoyed all the books in this trilogy, and am sad that this is the last one. If you enjoy learning about women in other cultures, I recommend you pick this book up, in fact, I recommend the whole series.

Alka Joshi is, and always will be, a stand out author to me. Time after time, she's able to transport readers to the atmosphere and have them live the story. The Perfumist of Paris is no different.

The Perfumist of Paris is a captivating and enchanting tale that tantalizes the senses and captivates the heart. The novel takes us on a journey through the fragrant scents of France and India, exploring intricate relationships and the deep-seated passions of women for meaningful work. The characters, brought to life by Joshi's masterful storytelling, are unforgettable and endearing.

Radha has two beautiful young girls and a wonderful job as a perfumist for a prestigious perfume house in Paris. However, her husband is wanting her to stay home and raise the girls and to give up her career. When she receives a promotion and is asked to travel to India to do some research, this puts her marriage in jeopardy.

I absolutely loved the first book in the series, The Henna Artist. The second book, The Secret Keeper was just ok. This one was in between.

I really enjoyed learning about the perfumes. I have read several books about this process, so this really captivated me. However, I felt the author spent a great deal of time on the subject of Pierre and the issue of his wife working and I was not a fan of Pierre. So, that may have been part of the problem. But, I did love Radha and her intelligence. I just felt the plot needed a little more.

Need a story which will have you reminiscing and remembering some fascinating smells…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

An absolutely beautiful and moving conclusion to the Jaipur trilogy that sees Radha struggling to balance her career, marriage and motherhood in 1974 Paris.

Perfect for fans of Lessons in chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, this story features a strong Indian woman trying to carve a path for herself as a perfumist. I really enjoyed getting to know more about all that goes into make a scent and the women in STEM rep.

There are also lots of references to characters from the other books so reading them first would be beneficial and we get to know more about the son Radha gave up as a young girl herself. Great on audio narrated by Sneha Mathan.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. Alka Joshi is a talent at the top of her game you do not want to miss!!

Favorite quotes:

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I know better than Pierre how you love being in that lab and creating all those scents. What woman wants to stay home all day? That's just a fantasy men make up."

"Being a woman is difficult. I can see why my mother didn't like her own gender. We can do so much. Give so much. But not everyone wants what we're offering. And in the end, we're left with...pieces of a whole."

Alka Joshi's utterly captivating Jaipur trilogy began with The Henna Artist, continued with Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and finishing with The Perfumist of Paris kept me rapt with characters I grew to care deeply about.

We met Lakshmi, the henna artist and title character in 1950's Jaipur as she created henna art on some of Jaipur's's most influential women, while also helping one of those women's husbands hide his involvement with mistresses. That relationship leads to Lakshmi's banishment from Jaipur.

In The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, Lakshmi is married and working with her husband Dr. Jay Kumar in a community health clinic in Shimla in the Himalayas, and using her knowledge of medicinal herbs and plants managing the Healing Garden Center. She gets her former assistant, young Malik, an internship in Jaipur with a friend who is managing a huge construction project- a state-of-the-art cinema. When the balcony collapses on opening night and people are injured and killed, Malik suspects foul play and his investigation puts him on the wrong side of powerful people.

Lakshmi's younger sister Radha takes center stage in The Perfumist of Paris. Radha left India to go to Paris, where she is married to a Parisian man, mother to two young daughters, and an assistant chemist at a small perfumery.

Radha loves her work and wants a promotion to perfumist at the company, where her boss is a woman. The company is tasked with creating a fragrance based on great works of art for a client, and she believes her knowledge of the basis of many perfumes that come from India can help her do that and get the promotion over two men who want the promotion.

Lakshmi offers to introduce Radha to the courtesans who took her in when she left home. These women use their knowledge of various plants and herbs to create scents that entice men, just what Radha needs to create the perfect scent to get her the promotion.

Back home in Paris, Radha has to deal with her husband Pierre, who doesn't want his wife's career to take away from their family. Radha's mother-in-law Florence also makes no secret of the fact that she thinks Radha should be home with her girls. Florence happily cares for the girls while Radha is at work, and Radha fears that the girls will become more French and lose any Indian identity they have.

When a person from her past shows up in Paris, Radha has to contend with a secret from her youth that she fears will destroy her family and the life she has built.

The setting is 1970s Paris, and more women are entering the workplace alongside men. Radha's struggle with wanting something of her own, a career she loves and can be proud of, and wanting to be a good mother is one that many women of today can relate to as well.

I enjoyed learning about the perfume business, especially the fact that many of the French perfumes have their basis in Indian plants. As always, Alka Joshi immerses the reader in the culture and foods of India, and even if you don't like Indian food, you may find your mouth watering at the descriptions. I also loved her evolving relationship with Florence.

Alka Joshi has created a fascinating world in her Jaipur trilogy, and populated it with characters I came to care about, especially Lakshmi. I'm sad to see the trilogy end, but so glad that I got to spend time in India. I highly recommend all three Jaipur books.

This is a book that makes you feel the scents Radha is using and makes you turning pages as you follow this luscious, intriguing, and fascinating story.
The last in trilogy, it can be read as a stand alone and I'm sure you will enjoy each page and follow the characters and their story.
Excellent storytelling and a great story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to MIRA for this arc, all opinions are mine

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I’m jumping in on this, the third book in the trilogy. I didn’t have any real difficulty reading this as a stand-alone work, but I think there’s a lot of good story in the first two books that I should go discover. If you haven’t read any of the three, start at the beginning with The Henna Artist.

Radha and Pierre are married, living and working in Paris, raising their two daughters. Radha loves her work at the House of Yves with master perfumer Delphine, and hopes to one day become a master perfumer herself. Pierre struggles with his wife’s career. It’s the 1970s. Women working isn’t a given, and he doesn’t understand why she can’t be content just staying home to be a wife and mother. His mother, Florence, is also a bit of a thorn in Radha’s side. She worries that Florence wants to make her girls completely French, to take their Indian heritage away from them.

Radha receives an important assignment at work – her first solo project! Work on the project has her returning to India, where her sister Lakshmi gets her in to visit the courtesans of Agra, to learn their secrets of using scent to seduce and entice. Lakshmi also tells Radha that Niki, the baby Radha gave up for adoption when she was just thirteen years old, knows she is connected to him somehow and is heading for Paris to learn why.

Alka Joshi paints wonderful word pictures of her characters and the settings. And her descriptions of different scents almost made the book like smell-0-vision. I could easily imagine the scents Radha discovered on her trip back to India.

The characters are wonderful and sometimes infuriating. Sometimes my heart just ached for Radha and the burden she carried, the secret she kept from Pierre, and sometimes I wanted to shout, “But how much of this could have been avoided if y’all would just TALK to each other?!” That being said, I’ve never given a child up for adoption. It’s easy for me to say but of course I’d tell my husband about it. But honestly, would I? I don’t know.

It took me a minute to really get sucked in to the story, but the more I read, the more I liked. There were some surprises that I didn’t expect, and they turned out to be marvelous. This is the kind of book where I felt like I was saying good-bye to friends when I finished. And as an adoptee who’s found my own birth family, I could totally relate to Niki. The biggest difference is that I always knew I was adopted, and it was never a big secret. I can’t imagine finding out like Niki did.

Betrayal by a trusted friend, women’s rights, the sacrifices we make to balance work and life, lost love and family found, this book has it all. It’s a five-star read for me.

The final book of the Jaipur trilogy, that focuses on Radha's path now that she lives and works in Paris. After making the difficult decision to give up her son Niki for adoption, Radha went back to school and then married Pierre and moved to Paris. There she discovered her talent for scents and set out to become a master perfumer. However, it was a struggle to balance her family and her work as well as the heavy secret of her past. As she gains recognition for her perfume formulas, she begins to come to terms with the decisions she made as a child and tries to find a sense of peace as an adult. Overall, a good conclusion to the series as Radha finds her way, with the added vivid imagery of scents and perfumes. Readers of Aanchal Malhotra will like this one.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 #𝟑)
𝐁𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐤𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐀
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟑.𝟐𝟖.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝒞𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒮𝑜𝑜𝓃!


I was thrilled to be back with these characters! I loved 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 and 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐫 and now I was immersed in Radha's fragrant world.

Radha, Lakshmi’s younger sister, lives in Paris, working as a perfumist. She has a unique ability to layer scent into a beautiful bouquet that arouses the senses. But Radha is not unlike many women who struggle to balance work with motherhood and marriage. In fact, she still grieves for her son, Niki, who she had to give up at a very young age, a secret she has kept from most people in her life.

When Radha is given the opportunity to return to India for an assignment, she calls upon her sister's help to find the perfect ingredients for a signature scent. As Radha feels like she is becoming more grounded again, being back in India, an old wound is split wide open. Niki has gone to Paris to search for his birth mother.

This trilogy has been amazing! I have become attached to these characters and have loved watching them grow and flourish. But my favorite part has been the incredible sensory journey these books have been. Through vivid writing, I experienced the sights, smells, and sounds from the streets of India to the perfumer's labs of France. 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦!


Thank you @harpercollins @_mira_books_ and @htpbooks for a spot on tour and a gifted ebook.

Oh wow -- I loved The Henna Artist SO much so I was thrilled to review book 3 of this trilogy The Perfumist of Paris which focuses on Radha's life, both personal and professional, in Paris as she works creating scents in a high end company. I loved these characters in the first two books and was so happy to be back with them again. This story follows the previous two, but it could stand alone or be even be read if you have only read The Henna Artist. Alka Joshi's writing is so beautiful with such exquisite attention to detail and senses that you feel as if you were there. Loved this story and Radha's "journey" as a mother, wife, and career woman in the 1970's. Highly recommended!

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!

3.5 Stars

This is the third book in the Jaipur Trilogy, following The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur.

The novel opens in Paris in 1974. Radha and her husband Pierre live busy lives with careers and two daughters. Radha works as a perfumist helping to design new fragrances. A project has her travelling to India to learn from the courtesans of Agra about how they use fragrances to entice and seduce. She has a visit with her sister Lakshmi, but learns that Niki, the son she gave up for adoption when she was 13, has flown to Paris to find her. Having never told anyone about Niki, she returns to Paris wondering if her vulnerable marriage will be destroyed by his arrival.

One of the enjoyable aspects of the book was catching up with characters (Lakshmi and Malik) from the first two books. I loved the Indian setting in these novels, but less of this novel is set in India; most events occur in Paris.

From the first novel, I remember Radha as stubborn and high-spirited. She seems less vibrant, but she is juggling the demands of her family and the job she loves. Unfortunately Pierre is not in favour of her working outside the home. And then there’s the past which she has tried to bury because it’s too painful to remember the circumstances that led to her pregnancy and having to give up her child.

The traits of hers I did not like are her insecurity, negativity, and tendency to jump to conclusions. For instance, when something goes wrong at work, she immediately assumes that she is at fault and she will lose her job. In her personal life, she lashes out at her sister for little reason. Also, rather than directly address a problem, she avoids discussion and often just runs away. Though she is 30 years of age, she often behaves like the 13-year-old she was when she first appeared in Lakshmi’s life.

The book does a great job of describing the social climate of the 1970s when the attitude towards women having careers was much different. Pierre seems to feel emasculated because his wife insists on working outside the home and not focusing just on raising their children. She, on the other hand, would like Pierre to help with household chores like laundry, cleaning, and shopping, but he thinks that would make him “’A man led by the tip of the nose.’”

The plot is interesting, but there is a big coincidence that bothers me: Someone from Radha’s past just happens to know Delphine, who becomes her boss? Delphine just happens to bring this person into a parfumerie where Radha works, a Parisian perfume shop owned by the grandfather of her best friend Mathilde with whom she attended school in India?

Readers who enjoyed the first two novels in the trilogy will certainly like this third installment. Though I enjoyed learning what happens to Radha, it is The Henna Artist tha