Published by St. Martin's Press on 21 May 2019
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Erica Bauermeister, the national bestselling author of The School of Essential Ingredients, presents a moving and evocative coming-of-age novel about childhood stories, families lost and found, and how a fragrance conjures memories capable of shaping the course of our lives.
Emmeline lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world–a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination.
Lyrical and immersive, The Scent Keeper explores the provocative beauty of scent, the way it can reveal hidden truths, lead us to the person we seek, and even help us find our way back home.
This is a story of love, grace, and acceptance, and it starts with a daughter and her father, who live alone on a remote island and spend their days foraging for food and... for scents. It tells Emmeline's coming-of-age in three stages. Disrupted from her fairytale childhood, she searches for the secrets of her past, trusting the scents that never lie about the memories they hold, and discovers the realities of a world beyond what she's known.
All those stories, all those lives, each one an entire world to the person living it, and yet I knew none of them. Maybe that’s how it always is, I thought–we all just go along, catching glimpses of one another, thinking we know everything.
Starting this search for truth from an enchanted childhood, I, along with Emmeline, was trying to discern what was fantasy and what was reality, as I wasn't sure what kind of world this story was set in--was it fantasy or realistic fiction or magical realism? Navigating fantasy and reality was so apt in this story, giving another dimension to Emmeline's quest to figure out the truths and lies of her childhood growing up on the remote island. I was reminded of Disney's Enchanted, following a sweet and naive protagonist into a world where fantasy and reality collide.
Emmeline's reality kept changing, so I don't want to say too much else and instead encourage you to let go of your expectations so that you can discover her world with her as I did; the lyrical writing and unique sensory/olfactory experience was so immersive.
The only qualm I had was that I felt the ending was too open and I still had some questions I wanted answered, but perhaps it's more realistic to not have all the answers in life anyway.
But for anyone who's read the book and would like to discuss, here are some unresolved thoughts I had left: [highlight to reveal spoilers]
- I thought Emmeline's father's *reaction* was extreme and was hoping to better understand him--and particularly that reaction--by the end but didn't really.
- I thought Emmeline's mother's character was kind of flat (typical cold female figure bent on success) and was hoping to understand her better as well. The end gave a hint to there being more about her, but just a hint.
- I didn't like that Emmeline moved to the city for a boy, and didn't get the sense that she found her independence from him. I guess learning from mistakes is part of growing up?
