Book Review | Assyriologist’s first novel moves smoothly in Your landscapes, but the plot lacks depth

In Kaisa Åkerman’s novel, The Fragrance’s Daughter’s Life is marked by a birthmark covering half of her face.

Novel

Kaisa Åkerman: The daughter of a perfumer. Bazar. 605 s.

Fair a thousand years ago along the Tigris stream, in what is now Iraq, Assyria gathered its forces. Eventually, it grew into a war power that at its greatest ruled the entire Middle East and subjugated the smaller nations.

Kaisa Åkermanin debut novel The daughter of a perfumer dates back to the 13th century BC, when Assyria took its first steps as the first great power in the world. Åkerman is an Assyriologist, and he builds the novel world by transporting his protagonists in Assyria, Heet, and Egypt, knowing the details of culture and history for hours.

A teenager Ilussa-amur lives with her mother, a perfumer, in a small village inn. The other half of Ilussa’s face is covered in a red birthmark: this is a sign from the gods, but also a shameful difference that Ilussa has learned to cover up to the best of her ability.

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There is also a mysterious clay tablet that somehow relates to Ilussa but whose significance the mother refuses to explain.

The relationship between a single mother and a daughter is interesting, as is the mother’s profession: this is an educated woman who knows her worth. Åkerman describes the ingredients required to make perfumes at great length, but in some places the significance of the work is overwhelmed by cataloging.

Daughter of a perfume maker trouble grinding right here: do the details work for the story or cover it underneath.

Traveling begins after the sudden death of her mother, and the orphaned Ilussa travels with the slave Erenu over the years from Assyria, Assyria, all the way to the estuary of the Nile. The same scenery passed through as well Mika Waltarin orphan Sinuhe with his slave Kaptah, though more than a hundred years earlier.

Comparing the journeys of Ilussa and Sinuhen, the narrowness of the woman’s room for maneuver and possibilities is highlighted in an interesting way: Ilussa makes a journey before being forced to flee, Sinuhe largely according to her own choices.

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Despite a good starting point The daughter of a perfumer is not allowed to increase the depth of his story, and, for example, the suddenly emerging triangular drama and the twists and turns swinging around it remain detached.

Ilussan the character grows along the way, but is left unnecessarily captured by his outer shell. Through the red birthmark, a connection is built to the status and power of religion, the significance of which Åkerman could have opened up even more in people’s daily lives.

The rest of the solution is gratifying, credibility five: an independent woman knows her worth and makes an independent choice.

Helsingin Sanomat’s award for the best debut work of the year will be presented in November.

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