Underlying Notes by Eva Pasco: A Romance Novel About Perfume + 2 Excerpts {Fragrant Readings}
We asked author Eva Pasco if she would be willing to share excerpts from her book for our readers and she chose the following two:
Excerpt from Chapter 1,
"Too restless to go back to bed, I closed down the kitchen and clicked off the bedroom lamp, not without noticing Joe’s overture had played itself out and he slept quietly. Another sleepless night calling for liquid measures…I made my way down the hall in darkness and flipped the switch in the foyer so I could see my way down two landings into the basement.
I opened the doors of the cabinet to peruse the bottles of “juice.” My ladies-in-waiting huddled together in various shapes and sizes, some nearly empty, some half-filled, and others hardly touched. Some bottles still languished inside their packaging, the names front and center. The “juice” beckoned with its spectrum of colors: clear as water, pale yellow, rich amber, and even pink or blue. On this cold day in January, I reached for the small amber bottle promising to soothe and impart warmth once I imbibed its spirits.
Delightfully intoxicated by this Floral Oriental fragrance, I gave a quick squirt to my wrists and inhaled. I knew the progression of its notes by memory. I sensed the sweet rush of caramel, champagne, and honey in the top register. The orchid, rose, and cinnamon in the heart would soon reveal this lady’s demeanor. In time, underlying notes of cedar and sandalwood in the base would orchestrate a woodsy dry down, while the vanilla and musk conspired to convey sweetness and warmth. This masterpiece is Spark, composed by Liz Claiborne."
Excerpt from Chapter 4,
"We dropped my car off at the dealership and stopped for breakfast. Joe gave me a ride home before heading to work. He told me the car wouldn’t be ready for a few days, which didn’t make much sense to me at the time. Nevertheless, I made the best of it by gearing up for spring and searching for single note gardenia fragrances on the net. Throughout the ages, the gardenia has been a symbol of purity, sympathy, and fidelity. I find its heady scent perfect for ushering in the warmer seasons and decided to reorder the Gardenia by Elaria.
Homebound, I continued to browse sites dedicated to fragrance with the radio on in the background, cruising along in cyberspace with no particular destination in mind. By chance I landed on www.mistednotes.com, a website for perfume aficionados offering a forum for discussions on fragrance related subjects. Intrigued, I scrolled down the list of topics that offered queries seeking knowledge or cheeky opinions, commentaries on particular scents, or historical perspectives: “Has anyone found their Holy Grail fragrance?”; “Opinions on Perfumer’s Workshop, Ltd. Tea Rose, please”; “Is there such a thing as a mature fragrance?”; “What fragrances have you bought unsniffed?”; “Looking for fragrance with a smoky note”; “Where do you store your fragrances?”; “Do you confess when asked?”; “How do you make your fragrance last?”; “The history of Frankincense”….
Male and female enthusiasts with usernames like Blonde Bomb, Prince of Ties, Duchess, Merlot, Freesia, Sarge Bilko, Doris Night, and Angel Wings peppered the forum with their wisdom. I felt as though I had come home to roost in finding refuge with a group of like-minded individuals in cyberspace. I couldn’t recall the last time I was frivolous or carefree and felt deserving of this reprieve from anxiety. I decided to become a registered member and logged in under the name Rose Fiend. I then proceeded to click on the topic “Where do you store your fragrances?” and added my response.
Rose Fiend: Like many of you, my ladies-in-waiting are stored inside a cabinet in my basement where there is little chance of corruption by sunlight."
The book is available on Amazon for $15.95
Previous Posts in Fragrant Readings:
Interview with Francis Kurkdjian in Libération
Frederic Malle on Perfume Publishing
Interview with Katherine Ashenburg: Do You Prefer to Scrape, Change Shirts or Soap?
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