In Search of Perfumes: A Lifetime Journey to the Source of Nature’s Scents, by Dominique Roques. Editions Grasset & Fasquelle, 2021

Roques’s job was (is?) sourcing natural fragrance materials for high end perfume houses. He does this not just by sitting at a desk, but by going to the sites where the materials are gathered- to Provence for the very best lavender, Italy for bergamot, Andalusia for cistus tears, etc. Each chapter chronicles his visits to the producers- sometimes farmers of their own land, sometimes migrant workers, sometimes gatherers in the forests and jungles and deserts- one fragrant material per chapter. Most of the time, he writes not just about one trip, but several trips through the years, to see where the material comes from and how it’s harvested, to find out what the producers and gatherers need to survive and have good lives, because he doesn’t want to take advantage of the people, some of whom have lives that we’d consider very primitive. He doesn’t just make money for his clients and himself, but makes deals so the workers can have medical care and schools.

While the book wasn’t what I thought it would be- I thought it would be more about the fragrance materials- it was pretty interesting. I had never thought about how the people lived who gathered rose petals, or bergamot oranges, or the gums like cistus or frankincense. It’s good to know where the materials in those oh so expensive perfumes come from and what progress is doing to the areas they grow in!