Scent of a Garden, Namrata Patel
Scent of a Garden, Namrata Patel
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Scent of a Garden

Author: Namrata Patel

Narrator: Soneela Nankani

Unabridged: 10 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/13/2023

Synopsis

A perfumer in Paris is forced to return to her California roots in an exhilarating novel about family, self-discovery, and taking risks by the author of The Candid Life of Meena Dave.The daughter of proud Napa Valley hoteliers, Asha “Poppy” Patel chose a different line as a Paris perfumer, gifted with a nose for fragrances and business. Until her heightened sense of smell disappears. Her career in jeopardy, her world now muted, Poppy returns home. Maybe tending to her grandmother’s massive aromatic garden, where Poppy’s gift first flowered, will bring restorative hope.But when she arrives, Poppy discovers that the land upon which the beautiful garden once thrived has been uprooted and destroyed. She realizes that the years she spent away from her home have loosened so many ties with the past. Torn between a mother who lives vicariously through her and a father who wants her to embrace her family’s legacy, Poppy is determined to chart her own path of rediscovery.Poppy must juggle family drama, childhood friendships, and a former love to forge a future of her own choosing and, in time, heal an unscented life.

About Namrata Patel

Namrata Patel is an Indian American writer who resides in Boston. The author of The Candid Life of Meena Dave, she examines diaspora and dual-cultural identity among Indian Americans in her writing and explores this dynamic while also touching on the families we’re born with and those we choose. Namrata has lived in India, New Jersey, Spokane, London, and New York City and has been writing most of her adult life. For more information visit www.nampatel.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lily on December 20, 2022

First of all, I loved that that MC Asha has a career as a perfumer! We don't see enough of those into literature, am I right? Namrata Patel obviously did so much incredible research into scents and the industry, and it really brought Asha's background to life. The same goes for Patel's descriptions......more

Goodreads review by Catherine on June 24, 2023

On the surface, this is an insanely cute, predictable rom-com! Underneath, it had spectacular character and story development! I loved the look inside the the female characters - the grandmother, mom, and Asha. While I cannot relate to story of first generation immigrants and all that entails, I lov......more

Goodreads review by ami on January 05, 2023

"I'm a person in my own right, not someone who exists simply to fulfill a path I never choose." What I really liked from this book was definitely how alive and well-developed the characters are and the relationship between them. It has a fairly slow start as our main character, Asha found......more

Goodreads review by Taylor on March 08, 2025

3.5! In between a 3 & 4. I would be interested in reading another of this authors books. I do feel like she very much rushed the end.......more

Goodreads review by Melissa on June 08, 2023

Thank you Netgalley, author Namrata Patel, and publisher Lake Union Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own :) . . . Maybe I'm a sucker for women's fiction, but I loved Scent of a Garden. The characters all felt rich and alive; not just the main c......more

Quotes

“Patel has written a touching tale of one young woman’s reckoning with her family’s generational legacy, staying true to her roots and traditions while at the same time forging a path for herself. Full of warmth and humor, this book is recommended for all fiction collections.” —Booklist“Full of softly beautiful descriptions and remarkably rendered characters, Patel’s sophomore novel grapples with familial pressures and legacies. It’s a sensual read, full of details pertaining not only to scents, as might be expected, but also to foods and visual descriptors.” —BookRiot.com

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