Not too many writers can find a fresh angle on a World War II historical novel, but Timothy Schaffert has done just that. This is a tantalising and spicy narrative set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Paris. Schaffert immerses the reader in an atmospheric world of perfume-making at the height of conflict in the streets of Paris.

We meet the protagonist Clementine from the opening page and soon develop a love for this 72-year-old American expat. Her former life of crime shows signs of returning when the Nazis take control of her darling Paris. Clementine spends her days in her shop bottling perfumes for the local women of the cabarets. But when their star performer Zoé St Angel approaches her for a job, Clementine simply cannot resist. The job is to steal an infamous perfume recipe book that is now under Nazi watch. The target is Oskar Voss, a Nazi who wrote the books on Paris and was one of the men who talked Hitler out of bombing it. Oskar has a secret scheme of his own, for Clementine and the book.

The Perfume Thief is a vivid read. The perfume offers a means to explore themes of memory, sexual identity, love, and the human condition. It is a beautiful metaphor woven throughout the novel.

Intricately researched, the story brings the city of Paris alive some 80 years on. It is an adventure through the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry during the world’s most turbulent years, and The Perfume Thief lands us in the heart of it.

Reviewed by Samuel Bernard Williams