Scenting Inspector Gamache: An Interview With Novelist Louise Penny

You know you're a fragrance nerd when an author's mention of fragrance in a book or the sight of perfume bottles on the vanity in a film sets your heart aflutter and your detecting instincts--"what's that scent?-- into high gear. Thus when I heard that Louise Penny, Canadian best-selling author of the Inspector Gamache mystery series, was going to be a featured speaker at the Adelaide Writer's Conference I was attending in March I decided I had to finagle an interview because you see, Ms. Penny scents Inspector Gamache!

A query email that starts out with the words, "this may seem like a strange request", does not fill one with optimism for a positive outcome, but I was delighted to receive word from Ms. Penny's publisher in Australia, Hachette Books, that they would add my name to her schedule. I have been reading the Inspector Gamache series set in the little Canadian village of Three Pines from the beginning, when Still Life was published in 2005. The series has now grown to include thirteen books with another debuting in November this year. Her books defy being pigeonholed. They have elements of the cozy genre; Three Pines, the setting inspired by Quebec's Eastern Townships where Ms. Penny lives, is the little forgotten village where all her readers would like to retire. But the stories offer a richness in character development and insights into life's bigger problems, a taste of which can be experienced by going to this Gamache series discussion website and the voluminous number of pages devoted to her fans in depth discussion of the books. There is a lushness to her writing and a vividness to the descriptions that make you want to occupy the spaces she writes about, for example, from her first book, Still Life:

"Wood smoke whispered out of the chimney to be grabbed by the wind and taken home to the woods beyond."

When I met with Ms. Penny her latest release and thirteenth book, Glass Houses, had recently been #1 on the New York Times and the Canadian Globe and Mail bestsellers list. I wanted to talk to her about the main character in her book, Inspector Gamache, Chief Inspector at the Surete du Quebec and crime solver extraordinaire, who it has been mentioned several times wears the lightest touch of sandalwood  cologne. Sometimes the sandalwood fragrance mingles with the scent of rosewater which is favored by his wife, Reine Marie. I'm a big audiobook listener so I can't search back through the books to find the first mention of scent, and when I asked Ms. Penny she wasn't sure of when she originally noted the Inspector's scent. Initially the mentions were more fleeting. From her fourth book, A Rule Against Murder:

"...Reine-Marie whispered in her husband's ear as she kissed him goodbye at the car minutes later, smelling his slight rosewater and sandalwood scent. As he drove away she waved, still in the world of his scent, a world of comfort and kindliness and calm..."

Again in her seventh book,  A Trick of the Light:

He was so close the young agent could even smell the Chief Inspector's scent. A very slight hint of sandalwood and something else. Rose Water."

But it is in her eighth book, The Beautiful Mystery, that Ms. Penny fully develops the idea of how this scent--sandalwood with a touch of rosewater-- comes about and in the process makes a profoundly beautiful statement about this couple's relationship as well as the importance of scent in the scrapbook pages of our lives. To set the scene, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, Inspector Gamache's second in command and soon to be son-in-law, makes this observation.

"He'd picked up the chief at his home before eleven. At the door, Gamache paused to hug and kiss Madame Gamache. They lingered for a moment before breaking the embrace, then the chief turned and walked down the steps, his satchel slung over his shoulder. When he'd gotten into the car, Jean-Guy had smelled his subtle cologne of sandalwood and rosewater and been overwhelmed at the thought that this man might soon be his father-in-law. That Beauvoir's infant children might be held by this man, and smell this comforting scent. He also realized for the first time in more than a decade together, why the chief smelled of sandalwood and rosewater. The sandalwood was his own cologne. The rosewater came from Madame Gamache, as they pressed together. The chief carried her scent like an aura, mixed with his own."

Without further ado I'll go to the interview where I ask Louise Penny about how she came to scent her characters.

Q: Why did you decide to scent Gamache in sandalwood?
LP: The sandalwood came because my grandfather, who I adored, had sandalwood cologne, or he smelled of it. I don't know whether it was a soap or cologne or the shaving foam he used. So whenever I smell sandalwood, which is not really that common of a scent--it's quite old fashioned. So whenever I smelled it, it evoked those walks in the park when he taught me poetry, so I decided I would give Gamache that scent of sandalwood. I understand how powerful scent is to evoke a time, a memory, a feeling, and more than anything else and I wanted to have that ability.

Q: Madame Gamesh you scent with rosewater.
LP: Yes, that is a scent I use a lot. I've experimented. I've used Jean Patou, I've forgotten what it's called, but it's rose. It's a perfume and to be honest that was a little strong for me so I experimented with the rosewater.

Q: I wondered if you might prefer lighter scent because in your books you always mention the scent is just a trace.
LP: It's very light. I like eau de cologne rather than perfume.

Q: So what made you decide to add these details to your characters?
LP: I wanted the books to be sensual. It's important to me, vital really, that all of the senses are engaged, and one of the big ones is scent. Not simply the scent of someone's perfume or eau de cologne but the smell of the food, the smell of the seasons. Each season in Canada smells different so I wanted people to be able to smell the maplewood fire, the maple syrup, fresh mown grass, all of that. And when you describe it people can smell it and then it takes them back to their own often comforting memories.

Q: You create such a sense of place. Your scenes are very tactile. I also noticed you scented Annie (Gamache and Reine-Marie's daughter) in citrus and Jean Guy in Old Spice.
LP: Michael, my husband, used Old Spice so I thought I would throw that in. And now that he's gone, I use his scent.

Q: In your books your character has a signature scent. Does scent play much of a part in your life?
LP: It's huge. I'm really sensitive to scent. I love scent. Not just perfume, but bath oils, when I'm designing gardens it's always with fragrant flowers so I'm very aware of scent. I'm also aware, like most people are, of being overwhelmed by it so  I do think scent needs to be subtle, and have you come to it rather than have it overwhelm you. I think there are few worse experiences than being stuck on a plane with someone who's bathed themselves in some probably quite lovely perfume but way too much of it. I remember as a teenager when you first go out putting way too much on.

Q: In the interview you talked about a fourth wall and trying to engage all the reader's senses.
LP: The fourth wall ... generally when you read a book you're reading the words and with any luck you can see it, it becomes like a movie in your head. But you're removed from it. The ideal for most writers and certainly for me is that if that barrier  between you and the world that's being created comes down and you walk into the book, actually enter the action so you're no longer a voyeur, you're a witness, a participant. So you're sitting down in the bistro, you're having the food they've ordered, smelling the lamb and garlic and rosemary, smelling the wood smoke from the fire and you're feeling the warmth from it. You're seeing the bitter cold outside, the snow. You're actually completely engaged and the only way to do that as far as I can tell is to engage all the senses. Then you also have to make it empathetic. The final element has to be that you care about these people. The goal is that for the reader it no longer seems like a story, it seems real. You feel that these characters are friends.

Q: You created such a specific world. Did it come about slowly and organically or when you first started writing did you have it all pictured? Was it already in your head?
LP: I did. I sat down at the kitchen table before I started to write and I drew a map of the village...I still have it... I created the bookstore first, then the bistro, the bakery and so on. I know exactly where the different people live so it was very clear in my mind, not simply the geography of it, but the feel of it. It was important to me that it be a sanctuary, physically and emotionally for people because I think we all yearn for that these days.

Q: Speaking of sanctuary, I think you stated that you envisioned this after 911 . Is that right?
LP: That's correct. I think everyone understood something had shifted and that places that we thought were safe were no longer safe. In fact there is no such thing as safe anymore. That's a scary thought and I wanted to create a place that would feel safe. This didn't mean bad things didn't happen. Bad things can happen, it's not a magical place. but what makes it a safe place is the sense of community and belonging and friendship that can not be shattered. That love of each other is perpetual and permanent and that's what makes it a safe place.

Q: I read that you got a perfume made at Floris. Tell me about that.
LP: I've always liked Floris and everytime I go to London I go and visit Floris on Jermyn Street. I didn't realize that they would actually make a custom perfume. In the back...it felt a little bit like Harry Potter, actually....I began speaking with someone there and they said, "Yes, we have a perfumer, she's in the back room." I left my first book Still Life with the perfumer. She read it and got in touch. I made an appointment with her and Michael and I  went. it feels like something from several centuries ago. There were all these glass vials and  it's like some mad scientist's workshop from the 1700s. She started just mixing things together based on reading the book and the description. She said sandalwood and rose wouldn't work very well together. I don't know why not..so she mixed up other things.

I didn't understand why it  (sandalwood and rosewater) wouldn't work together. It does in the book! The problem is that after you smell ten things you lose your sense of smell and your judgement. We narrowed it down to three or four, then came back and narrowed it down to one. So there  is now an Eau de Gamache cologne. It has sandalwood and a lot of other things but I don't think it has rose. There may be a little, or other things that suggest rose. To be honest with you I'm not totally happy with it. I'd like another shot at it.

I've had some bottles made up and given to friends but I don't expect anyone else to  buy it. There's a map out now of the village of Three Pines but I've been resistant to that as well because I think people have an image in their mind and maybe it's best to just leave it like that. It's nice to imagine it.

Q: I had always imagined Gamache's scent would be from Penhaligon's or Floris, one of those mainstay traditional houses. Does your newest book have any references to scent?
LP: Yes, actually scent plays a huge roll in my latest book, The Kingdom of the Blind (coming out in November). Very early on in the first chapter, Gamache is sitting in this car and he's about to answer the phone and we don't know what it is but clearly it's a call he's been expecting and dreading. He wonders if in future when he smells wet wool and hears the tapping of snow on the roof and feels the cold chill will he remember this moment, and whether he will remember it with dread or with joy.

He talks later with Isabelle LaCoste about trying to recover from shattering events and to get out of that pain and sorrow. He quotes a WWI poet, Rupert Brooke, who wrote a poem which in it has a list of things he loved and missed during the war, and many of them are scents such as the crisp scent of fresh linen. It was a comfort for him during WWI in the trenches. He would sit there in the worst situation imaginable and remember the smells and the sights from home and it would give him comfort. That's how Gamache describes how he has gotten through the sorrow, he lists the things he loves including the smell of Honore his grandson, so scent plays a  in big role in his recovery, the idea of  how healing scent can be.

THE SCENTS

So the question is, how would I scent Inspector Gamache with sandalwood, incorporating the note of rosewater from his wife Reign-Marie's fragrance?

I was staying in Adelaide, Australia, at the time I interviewed Ms. Penny, and shortly after meeting her I reviewed the much discussed line of perfumes debuting from Australia, Goldfield & Banks, review here. White Sandalwood is a creamy, calming interpretation of sandalwood that despite the list of spicy notes wore very quiet and woody on my skin. I noted that some reviewers said they got a strong sense of the rose note in the perfume, but on my skin it was hardly evident. However, this is a beautiful sandalwood and if the rose note comes through could be the perfect answer to the scented puzzle.

During our interview when Ms. Penny stated that the Floris perfumer didn't want to mix sandalwood and rose I was perplexed, because I told her that when I traveled to India the previous year, rose and sandalwood was such a prevalent mix. But later I got to thinking, these perfumes had a heavy presence and it is always mentioned that Inspector Gamache's scent is light.

Maybe the best way to come up with the combination is to mimic the book; put sandalwood on one wrist and rose on the other and rub the two together. This would require lighter scents without too much else going on or other notes to complicate the scent.

Nest White Sandalwood is another interpretation of sandalwood that is in the lighter vein. The sandalwood is creamy and very pleasant. It is a soothing scent and although there is not much development or change on my skin, if you are looking for just sandalwood it is worth a try.

Floris London Santal is a classic sandalwood scent but notes of lavender, clove, and nutmeg might make it spicier than Inspector Gamache would wish! Some people say this wears as pretty much a straight sandalwood but others experience the spices if their skin chemistry chooses to amplify these notes.

For the rosewater, I have the perfect thing in my collection but the only place you can find it now is on Ebay, Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater. Does anyone know what has happened to Crabtree & Evelyn? Their website looks quite different with fewer offerings. I assume they were caught up in the decline of mall shopping, as in the old days they could always be found at the nicer malls. I'm thinking it is maybe just US operations that have suffered, because there is still a thriving shop at one of the malls I used to visit in Singapore. In any case, this is the perfect light rosewater. There is not a lot to say about it; it's one note--rosewater--but it's light, refreshing, and uplifting.

In the absence of this I would recommend the cheap and cheerful Tea Rose by Perfumer's Workshop. It is cheap as chips and smell like rose, and nothing but rose, but sometimes it's just right. The only problem might be that some people find this to be a strong scent. In that case I would recommend Madame Gamache wear Insititut Tres Bien Fine Rose de Mai which I reviewed here. This is a watercolor of a scent; a pale yet vibrant rose that offers the beauty of the flower without ever overpowering the wearer.

My final suggestion to scent Inspector Gamache is not a cologne, but a soap. Ms. Penny mentioned that she didn't know if her Grandfather's scent came from a cologne, a shaving foam, or a perhaps a soap. When I lived in India for several years I became exceedingly fond of this soap.

Later when I lived in Singapore you could buy this in Little India, and I just discovered that it is available online, Amazon of course, here. This soap has a really pleasant sandalwood smell and it is one of those soaps that the scent lingers on the skin in a very light manner for several hours. 

Ms. Penny didn't mention being influenced by the healing properties of the scents she chose for her characters, but the first property that pops up for sandalwood is that it provides mental clarity, which is certainly perfect for Inspector Gamache. And the scent of rose is meant to be calming and uplifting, and this is one of the roles that Reine Marie plays in her husband's life. 

It was a pleasure to hear Louise Penny speak twice during the week-long writer's conference and then to have the opportunity to speak with her in person. Ms. Penny told audiences that although her books are mysteries, ultimately they are about life, love, and the relationships we form, and having that safe place where we feel cared for and appreciated. It's interesting how much you can glean about a person's character from watching these interviews. Ms. Penny is entertaining and charming. It's obvious that she wants to connect with her audience and show them a good time, and her stories were funny and often self deprecating. And when she shared the stage with a less well known author, Ms Penny seamlessly redirected the attention back to the other author when she felt too much of the interviewer's attention was being directed her way. 

I have always maintained that we scent lovers are sensualists, just like foodies or wine lovers, and for many of us these enthusiasms overlap. The love of life is in the details, and Louise Penny's stories are richly embroidered with these sensual, descriptive details that enrich life, while providing  a darn good story at the same time! I really appreciated her indulging me in answering my questions about Inspector Gamache's scent, which in reality only make up a couple of sentences in each book. If you haven't read her books and appreciate mysteries do yourself a favor and visit the little town of Three Pines.

Just hanging out with best-selling author Louise Penny!