June is a month of celebration and reflection for ourselves, and our community. For today’s Book Club Spotlight, we’ll be revisiting an author who is not only a friend to Nebraska Libraries, but an active member in our state’s literary tradition. Winner of the Nebraska Book Awards for Fiction in 2022 and previously featured author of the Swan Gondola, Timothy Schaffert’s novel The Perfume Thief takes his readers to the cold, destitute Paris of World War II. But underneath lies a beautiful community of artists who choose to love fiercely, and celebrate each other even in the darkest of times.
Paris, 1941. Notorious thief of perfumes both valuable and rare, Clementine, has hung up her hat and lives life in semi-retirement creating perfumes for the ladies of Paris. With Nazi forces controlling daily life, the once vibrant and lush city is haunted by shuttered restaurants, empty stores, and struggling nightclubs. Residents do what they must to get from one day to the next alive, including Clem, who has enough on her mind keeping loved ones safe before being pulled out of retirement for one last heist. A Francophile Nazi bureaucrat has come to the city in search of a famous perfumer’s notebook, and Clem must infiltrate his confidence to steal the diary before the deadly secret of a cabaret star is exposed.
“For the perfume to work, the wearer has to believe what I tell them .”
– Timothy Schaffert
Pantomiming a performance of the once great city to appease the Nazi soldiers who were promised The City of Lights, artists and those on the margins who were once embraced had to tread carefully to survive. Featuring a protagonist in their 70s, the novel’s acts of bravery and rebellion are not as loud and explosive as other stories of heroes facing Nazis may be, but the subtlety and cunning employed by those not on the front lines is no less important or deadly. There is much to learn from the beautiful and colorful characters who grace the page of The Perfume Thief, and Adult Book Groups who are fans of Historical Fiction will enjoy this look into a world of espionage and perfume resulting from Schaffert’s dedicated research.
Like all countries ravaged by the war, France is still coming to terms with the devastation caused and the effects it still has on its people and culture today. In 2025, Paris unveiled a memorial to the LGBTQ+ victims of the holocaust of a giant metallic star with one side a matte black of the dark and painful history it remembers, and a bright mirror on the other, reflecting back hope and light of a bright future onto the viewer.
If your readers are fans of Schaffert, you’re in luck! He will be speaking at Norfolk Public Library on June 20th, followed by a reception at the Norfolk Arts Center featuring his work.
If you’re interested in requesting The Perfume Thief for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 11 copies. (A librarian must request items)
Schaffert, Timothy. The Perfume Thief. Anchor. 2021
