Scent of Triumph: A Novel of Perfume and Passion by Jan Moran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fabulous book! I loved the story of Danielle Bretancourt, a perfumer from France and her family as they traveled through WWII.
Danielle is married to Max. They are on a ship to England the day that war breaks out. Danielle is pregnant with her second child and they have left their other son at home in Poland with Max’s mother, Sofia, as he was too young to travel with them. After they arrive, Max decides he needs to help the resistance. His half brother, Heinrich has turned into a full blown Nazi and they feel Max can help out by getting information from Heinrich. Sofia and Nicky are on the run with neighbors to get away from the Nazi’s.
Max loses his life and, try as she might to find him, Danielle loses Nicky and Sofia. She takes her daughter, niece and mother to America where her friend Jon’s sister lives to try and be safe and start over knowing she will never stop trying to find her son.
America is hard, as Danielle works as a shop girl. She wonders if she can ever get ahead. Finally, her boss invests in her perfumes and designs launching the career that will save them.
Jon writes to Danielle. He loves her but feels it’s too soon after Max’s death to tell her. She loves him but knows she can’t go back to London with her family while the war rages on. She ends up marrying another man after misunderstanding Jon’s intentions and he marries another woman whom he doesn’t really love.
The story is about a strong woman who goes through so much but refuses to quit. In the end she succeeds and has everything she wants.
Terrific book! I highly recommend it. 🙂