Season of the Dragonflies - Sarah Creech

Season of the Dragonflies

Back in February, TLC Book Tours offered me the chance to read and review The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro. It was a book I had been wanting to read for a long time and I jumped at the chance. I loved it. 

So, when the opportunity arose to read another book about perfumers for TLC, I was intrigued. 

Sarah Creech's debut novel centers around a family perfume business. Their involvement in the field began several generations back when Great-Grandmother Serena discovered a magical flower in the tropics. She brought it back to the Blue Ridge Mountains and started making perfume from its intoxicating scent. The company has passed down from mother to daughter since that time.

The perfume has a special quality and those who use it have their talents greatly enhanced. Its properties are a closely guarded secret and the Lenore family only sells it to women they select. Needless to say, those women excel in their fields and pay millions to continue using the perfume.

Creech's story picks up as Willow Lenore is aging and needs to pass the company on to one of her two daughters. Mya, the eldest, has been involved in the business her whole life and has a passion for perfumery. Lucia, however, spent a decade pursuing acting and a life away from the family trade. The plot kicks off as she leaves her cheating husband in New York and returns to the mountains to recover and heal. Her timing, of course, is fortuitous.

The family business is in trouble. A young starlet is abusing the perfume and threatening to blackmail. The flowers are losing their scent. Willow is losing her memory. Things deteriorate quickly as the Lenore women scramble to figure out the cause of the problems and solve them.

I enjoyed the book. It was nothing ground breaking, but it was interesting. My interesting in perfume was rekindled. It seems strange that this interest has been prompted by reading two books, experiences that involve little to no scent. Still, I've never been more interested in those perfume samples that you get from Sephora with your purchases.

I liked the Hollywood addition to the storyline. It added something fun and relatable for those of us not living in the world of perfume or family secrets. Because of the media, everyone can understand the concept of one actress stealing a role from another or the lies told by press agents to keep media from finding out the truth. 

Sarah Creech

I also enjoyed knowing that, before long, the setting for this book will be much closer to me. The Blue Ridge Mountains are only a few hours away from our new home and I took pleasure in reading about my new state. I think I'm going to have to pick up some other books set in North Carolina to help me make the transition. I've been an Ohio girl all my life and it wasn't until this past weekend when we drove down to house hunt that I realized I know basically nothing about my new state. Creech actually lives in Charlotte, so maybe I'll run into her at some point (yes, I realize the unlikelihood of this). 

Season of the Dragonflies debuted on Tuesday, so you can pick up a copy for yourself today if you want! I think this book worked beautifully as a selection to close out summer. It had some darker twists which, to me, acted as echoes of the coming autumn. There's still enough sunshine to make it belong to summer, but it really fits August so well. 

Pages: 336

Date Completed: August 10, 2014

*To read what others are saying about Season of the Dragonflies, check out the full tour schedule.*