Alka Joshi: The Perfumist of Paris

April 6th, 2023

7:00pm

Bookshop West Portal is thrilled to welcome Alka Joshi for her third novel in her Jairpur Trilogy that began with the bestselling title The Henna Artist. Three years later, we're still wanting more and we can't wait for this third installment with The Perfumist of Paris. Join us live at the store to meet Alka Joshi herself, get your books signed, and hear all about the author's journey in this trilogy.

This event is free to attend and will take place at Bookshop West Portal. No registration is necessary, but early arrival is encouraged to get your seat. 

SPECIAL OFFER FROM THE PUBLISHER: Pre-order a signed copy of Alka Joshi’s The Perfumist of Paris from Bookshop West Portal and receive a LilaNur Parfums Discovery Set with your copy of the book! LilaNur Parfums is a fragrance house which combines the best of Indian and French perfumery traditions, pairing exquisite Indian ingredients with French master perfumery.  More information about LilaNur can be found at lilanur.com. While supplies last, copies must be picked up at Bookshop West Portal on or after April 6th.

The final chapter in Alka Joshi’s New York Times bestselling Jaipur trilogy takes readers to 1970s Paris where Radha’s budding career as a perfumer must compete with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past.

"A stunning portrait of a woman blossoming into her full power…this is Alka Joshi's best book yet!” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye

From the author of Reese's Book Club Pick The Henna Artist, the final chapter in Alka Joshi’s New York Times bestselling Jaipur trilogy takes readers to 1970s Paris, where Radha’s budding career as a perfumer must compete with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past.

Paris, 1974. Radha is now living in Paris with her husband, Pierre, and their two daughters. She still grieves for the baby boy she gave up years ago, when she was only a child herself, but she loves being a mother to her daughters, and she’s finally found her passion—the treasure trove of scents.

She has an exciting and challenging position working for a master perfumer, helping to design completely new fragrances for clients and building her career one scent at a time. She only wishes Pierre could understand her need to work. She feels his frustration, but she can’t give up this thing that drives her.

Tasked with her first major project, Radha travels to India, where she enlists the help of her sister, Lakshmi, and the courtesans of Agra—women who use the power of fragrance to seduce, tease and entice. She’s on the cusp of a breakthrough when she finds out the son she never told her husband about is heading to Paris to find her—upending her carefully managed world and threatening to destroy a vulnerable marriage.

ALKA JOSHI, born in India, came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. At age 62, Joshi published her debut novel, The Henna Artist, which immediately became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, and was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It’s been translated into 26 languages and is currently in development at Netflix. The sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, released June 2021, is being translated into multiple languages. The third book in The Jaipur Trilogy, The Perfumist of Paris, releases March 28, 2023, and is now available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook everywhere.

JANIS COOKE NEWMAN is the author of the memoir, The Russian Word for Snow, as well as the novel, 'Mary, Mrs. A. Lincoln,' which was an LA Times Book Prize Finalist and USA Today's Historical Novel of the Year, and the novel, 'A Master Plan for Rescue,' which was an SF Chronicle Best Book of the Year. She is also the founder of Lit Camp, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting writers through classes, conferences, and co-working.