Here's a book I've been eagerly looking forward to for quite some time, ever since I knew it was underway, in fact. Deborah Lawrenson's The Lantern is "a bewitching novel of secrets, lost love, perfume and Provence"; a contemporary gothic love story, this has so many appealing elements that even readers who aren't already familiar with Deborah's work will surely not be able to resist it. Here's the gist:
"When Eve falls for the charming, secretive Dom, their whirlwind romance leads then to Les Genévriers, a run-down, yet beautiful house in the South of France. But as summer fades to autumn, Eve finds it impossible to ignore the mysteries the house seems to be hiding - not least the strange disappearance of Dom's beautiful first wife. And what is the connection to a young girl who lived in the house decades before?
As Les Genévriers' tangled history begins to unravel, and Dom grows increasingly distant, Eve must discover the secrets of the past - before history has a chance to repeat itself."
A novel of the senses, this was inspired in part by Deborah's own house in Provence, which you can see if you watch The TV Book Club this coming Sunday (26th.) at 7.30pm on More4 (viewable later on 4oD) as The Lantern is the first book to be featured in their Summer Reads series. Also, do visit Deborah's blog which gives a lovely glimpse of life in France and of the background to the book, but meanwhile let me whet your appetite further with the opening of the prologue:
"Some scents sparkle and then quickly disappear, like the effervescence of citrus zest or a bright note of mint. Some are strange siren songs of rarer origin that call from violets hidden in woodland, or irises after spring rain. Some scents release a rush of half-forgotten memories. And then there are the scents that seem to express truths about people and places that you have never forgotten: the scents that make time stand still ...."
I know from your description that I will love this book. Sigh - yet another book you have caused me to put on my Amazon Wish List.
Posted by: Julie Fredericksen | 24 June 2011 at 02:52 PM
My daughter and I were just talking about scent bringing back memories more powerfully than almost anything else as I have a perfume which she said was 'summer holidays bottled' so that paragraph has me hooked!
Posted by: LizF | 24 June 2011 at 03:18 PM