The Smell of Old Lady Perfume (2008) {Fragrant Reading}

We know that many perfumistas will appreciate and savor the fact that an upcoming debut novel by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez bears as title the commonly bandied about disparaging expressions "old lady perfume" and "old lady smell" put together in one neat stroke of the pen. By the way, The Smell of Old Lady Perfume aims a young adult audience. The disturbing smell it refers to is the narrator's grandmother's, a "smell" "worse than Sundays" that will help test her mettle (we know, it can be hard).......

In case you are thinking we photoshoped an image to have fun, here is the link to the book on Amazon. It is available for pre-order.

"Claudia Guadalupe Martinez's debut novel for young adults is a bittersweet story about death, family, and the resilient emotional strength of the human heart. Chela Gonzalez, the book's narrator, is a nerd and a soccer player who can barely contain her excitement about starting the sixth grade. But nothing is as she imagined-her best friend turns on her to join the popular girls and they all act like Chela doesn't exist. She buries herself in schoolwork and in the warm comfort of her family. To Chela, her family is like a solar system, with her father the sun and her mother, brothers, and sister like planets rotating all around him. It's a small world, but it's the only one she fits in.

But that universe is threatened when her strong father has a stroke. Chela's grandmother moves in to help the family. The smell of her old lady perfume invades the house. That smell is worse than Sundays. Sundays were sad, but they went just as sure as they came. Death was a whole other thing, and Chela doesn't understand that's what everyone is waiting for. In her grief and worry, Chela begins to discover herself and find her own strength."