The Garden of Evening Mists

I loved Tan Twan Eng's Garden of Evening Mists almost as much as I loved (and was devastated by) his first novel, The Gift of Rain. Eng's entrancing prose and soul-churning, up-close portrayals of Japanese-occupied Malaysia were heartwrenching, and complex. Deep sorrow, lonliness, pride, rage. Acceptance. Loss. All set against the backdrop of a sprawling Japanese garden abutting a tea plantation in the Malaysian highlands. If you haven't read any of Eng's works, add them to your reading list. They are superb. And that extends especially to the sensory elements he weaves into his narration. His description of views, scents, flavours, textures, and physical sensations are hyperreal.

I noted several intriguing scents that mingled throughout The Garden of Evening Mists, and (as always, and with some difficulty) tried to find a single fragrance that captures the essence of the novel. I don't know what drives me to do this. I think a part of me wishes I were able to go back and read these books again for the first time. Maybe this is the next best thing.

· Lampblack and ink: As the main character receives a complex traditional Japanese horimono tattoo.

· Incense: At the temples.

· Green tea: The fragrant, vegetal aroma of fine Japanese green tea.

· Earthiness: From weeding, shaping and maintaining the garden.

· Freshness: Highland air.

· Rain-drenched ferns, and green, growing things: A recurring scent note throughout the novel.

· Parchment: From traditional wood block prints.

· Bamboo and wood

· Skin

· Stone

What a wonderful tapestry of scents! Although they all work together to tell a complex and beautiful story, it was a challenge to identify fragrances with a broad combination of the above. Here are my best efforts:

1. Maison Margiela's Replica When The Rain Stops: If notes of moss and rain under light florals, and a fair bit of bergamot's citrus freshness are your vibe, this is a nice fit. For the purpose of this exercise, I consider it cheating to do so, but you might be temped to layer with something smoky and earlthy for a more complete profile. D'Annam's Through the Forest nails the scent of steam rising from fiery-hot stones in a cedar sauna, and might be an interesting layering choice.

Also, a propos of nothing, if you're browsing through Maison Margiela's other offerings (say at Sephora on a rainy Vancouver Saturday), check out "From the Garden". It absolutely smashes the scent of "tomato stem" which I had long been on a quest to find. When I was little I used to steal into my mother's vegetable garden and run barefoot through the soft, warm soil snatching ripe peapods, green beans, and sweet tomatoes off their vines and stuffing them in my mouth. Tomato plants would always leave a trace of their tangy sap on my hands, and to this day the smell makes me feel small and wild again.

2. Le Labo's Thé Matcha 26: Eng mentions a Japanese green tea, "Fragrance of the Lonely Mountain" in each of his first two novels. I wanted a scent that leaned into that element of the narrative. I've worn Bvlgari's White Tea for years (it's a little too jasmine and musk -heavy for today's exercise), and I was disappointed to see that Maison Margiela's Replica: Matcha Meditation has been discontinued, however Le Labo's Thé Matcha 26 hits many of the more challenging notes I recorded from the novel, alongside the sharpness of bergamot which is one of the few citrus notes that can stand up to long-duration wear.