"Leela Patel, the heroine of this sensual and exotic novel, is sent to Paris to live with relatives when her father is killed by terrorists in Kenya, and her mother takes her brothers to England. At first working in her uncle's Indian grocery, she flees the claustrophobia of the insulated Indian community to embrace the sights, sounds, and sophistication of Paris.

From her position as au pair and mistress to a powerful and rich man, to her rise as a television celebrity on a cooking show, Leela embarks on a quest for survival.".

"Smell is the metaphor through which the author weaves her themes: from the smell of Indian spices which Leela so magically combines, to the stench of the underground Metro. Through smell she becomes intimate with a series of men with whom she forms unequal relationships in love and in work; and through the pungent smell of the Paris subway she gets in touch with the primitive forces which fuel her alienation.

Her life begins to change when she meets a man who teaches her to love and be loved, and a stranger who reveals the truth about the mysterious smell she fears."--BOOK JACKET.