Scent of a Garden Audiobook By Namrata Patel cover art

Scent of a Garden

A Novel

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Scent of a Garden

By: Namrata Patel
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
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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.

©2023 Namrata Patel (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction South Asian Creators United States Women's Fiction World Literature

Critic reviews

“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

Editorial Review

Nosey aunties last year, Hilarious grandmas this year!
Last June, I fell in love with fellow Bostonian Namrata Patel’s debut novel, The Candid Life of Meena Dave. Just as my TBLT list was starting to feel a little empty, Scent of a Garden, Patel’s second novel, landed in my Library, and I couldn’t be any more delighted! Daughter of hoteliers, Asha Patel is an Indian American woman living in Paris who works with a handful of perfumers to create exquisite perfumes. After falling ill and losing her sense of smell, Asha returns home to Napa, where her grandmother (with the rest of the family in tow) swears to do everything in her power to help Asha recover her sense of smell. Listener-favorite narrator Soneela Nankani kept me hooked to this immersive and beautiful novel about finding the courage to pave one's own path in a world full of obligations and expectations. —Patty R., Audible Editor

Heartwarming Story • Interesting Plot • Phenomenal Narration • Uplifting Elements
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I really like the story, but could not stand Asha. She was entitled, spiteful, and selfish. I thought there would be some growth and I would grow to like her, but it never happened. Every other character was likable. I wished that Neil would find a really awesome girl and there’d be no chance for her because she did not deserve his kindness.

Unbearable Protagonist

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Loved this book especially the descriptions of plants and flowers. And the scent of the garden.

Great summer read

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Story was mediocre, and information was repeated several times in different chapters. Heroine came across as a little pathetic – I wanted to smack her. Plot and storyline were OK but predictable

Stretched thin

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I kept waiting for Asha to become likeable—it didn’t happen. Her grudges against her mother, father, boss, old boyfriend were longstanding and Asha expressed her resentment often. She left home at 17 and it seems like she stayed at that age emotionally. The big mystery was why her family continued to like her. Usually by the end of a book I have more sympathy for a character but not this time. After living in Paris for 15 years Asha felt she had the right to be enraged about the sale of a garden her family owned. The fact that her father needed the money for his hotel was irrelevant. At 32, Asha had yet to develop empathy and continued to wallow in self-pity.

Arrested Development

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Seriously? Are there people this entitled and THIS self-centered in the world. The young man was the only redeemable character in the story. Pray for him…

Another world?

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This book made my heart so happy, which made it easy to read. I loved the characters and the family ties. A story about a perfume was an interesting plot, but it was so much more. The narrator did a phenomenal job and this is a book I would read again and again!

Happy, easy read

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It was more than I expected from the first chapter. I love the family dynamics and the Nani’s are fun characters! Author depicts strong female characters and loving male characters. Excellent work

Love story for Independent women

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Audiobook
Asha Patel, daughter of prominent hoteliers in California, finds herself forced out of the position of her lifelong dream of being a cutting edge perfumer by the unfortunate twist of fate of losing her incredible gift of smell due to covid. As she takes a break, after having blown a huge opportunity, she returns home to her family and their hotel business to sort out her life.
I loved this view of an Indian family, their traditions and successes in American culture, while maintaining the beauty of their own culture.
Once home Asha has to face her family with her failure, and then learn how to embrace her family once again. Lovely story.

Beautiful

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The ending tied it all together. Their love and family bond that they have always shared!

Garden and scents.

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I enjoyed this story and learned some about the perfume and hospitality business but I could not give it five stars because I just felt the main character was an immature brat. She seemed so upset about life going on without her while she was in France for about 15 years and the fact that she was upset about things and places were going to change without her being consulted even though she had been gone for so long really made me not like her very much. Neal and his sister were my two favorite characters in this story.

Good Story but…

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