Tuesday 27 October 2009

The Ultimate Signature Scent: Musc by Percy Kemp


Following a tip off from a perfumisto in Canada, I have just finished reading my first perfume-themed novel since Patrick Süsskind's Perfume. Written in French by an English national, Musc is a humorous and somewhat surreal account of an elderly Parisian lothario and ex-spy, Arnaud Eme. Having successfully seduced women all his life while wearing a particular cologne, Monsieur Eme is horrified one day to find that the manufacturers have reformulated it, which completely throws him off his stride. The rest of the book is devoted to the poor chap's obsession with acquiring outstanding stocks of the old formulation, his attempts to have the original scent custom-made for him etc, and the story culminates in a bizarre dénouement I shan't mention for fear of spoiling the story!

2 comments:

The Scentimentalist said...

Dear Bonkers,

This sounds like a cracking read! And judging from a recent discussion on No.19, I can quite identify with the matter of desperately trying to source old formulation stock ...

The S

Vanessa said...

I am a late comer to No 19, so don't know what I am missing, which is probably a mixed blessing!