This book transports you to Paris in the 18/19th century. Two men with a shared interest in science and chemistry meet and work together in a perfume shop by day and at night they experiment with perfumes and elixirs.
This book is clearly well researched and interesting with lots of colourful characters to meet along the way. If you have an interest in science then I’d recommend it.

This book was too scientific for me but I do appreciate the depth of information provided by the author as well as the social/cultural aspects of the text which made it more enjoyable.

The narrator was well suited to the text and read with fluency.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

An interesting story but one I struggled to get into. Perhaps it was because I was listening but it wasn't always so easy to follow.

The facts in this book are most fascinating and explain the world of historical French perfumery. However, from the description, I thought it was a work of fiction. This is something the publishers may need to look into.

Great audio narrator who struck the balance in nuance between nonfiction and fiction, which was perfect in this book.

Elixir is a wonderful dive into a segment of the history of chemistry, tracing its roots from late alchemy through perfumery and the relationship between perfume and medicine, and thence on to its more modern definition. Levitt tells this all as if it's a story of men arguing - which in fairness most scientific is the story of people arguing until theories are proved or discarded. It makes this book immensely readable without dumbing anything down and all whilst putting each discovery in its historical context. The race for supremacy in the industrial revolution between France and Britain being a case in point. Overall this was fascinating, informative and engaging. Highly recommend.

I will admit that from the description I thought this book was a novel. After the first chapter I soon discovered it was more of a documentary style study of the art of science.

This is not at all the kind of book I would normally read but I was very presently surprised! A very enjoyably book dealing with social, economic and scientific history.

Elixir is a wonderfully, elegant insight into the world of 18th & 19th century perfume, alchemy, chemistry and medicine in Paris. Read and narrated like a novel, it was easy to get lost in and hard to put down. I loved the narrator's voice and accent, it was so beautiful to listen to. Such an enjoyable way to learn about an interesting topic and vivacious time period. (then again, aren't they all in their own ways?)

<!> An enormous Thank You to NetGalley, Basic Books, and Theresa Levitt for allowing me the opportunity to read this title in exchange for my honest review. <!>

Elixir sits perfectly in my non-fiction wheelhouse; I loved the historical French setting and all the science. Even if you're slightly less fascinated by perfume and polarisation, this is an interesting narrative that takes us from alchemy to more modern scientific puzzles via many of the big names in French history and science.

I think the blurb suggests that this is predominantly a story whereas I would categorise it as popular science.

Given the subject and time period, you're not going to encounter many women but I felt this was somewhat offset by Elixir having a female author who is a scientist and historian. The audiobook also has a female narrator, Esther Wane, who was excellent.

Definitely worth a listen if you're up for non-fiction with a scientific and historical spin.

Really struggled with this one. I love perfume and everything about it - both fictional and factual, but I couldn't get into this book at all. I think the fact that it didn't have a central narration, and it was just various facts mixed together stopped me from being able to finish it or keep my interest. Sadly did not work for me.

I love a non fiction book that tells a story. And this one enchants you and sweeps you into a historical France and takes you through the discovery and science of perfume in the most immersive way.

The narration made for very easy listening and was superbly executed. It was greatly written, and made the history behind the discovery and chemistry of perfumes and scents so interesting.

It’s a topic that could have been a little dry and boring but it was far from the case in this instance, as it was transformed into a way that couldn’t help but draw you in and keep you fascinated. It was a topic I found so much more interesting than I initially thought it would!

A stroll through scientific history and venture, from apothecarists, to the formation of pharmacy, the use of scents in medicine and royalty. Want to know how obsessed Napoleon was with perfume? Read on. what couldn’t these miracle little bottles cure in these times? There was a scent for everything !

So glad I picked this one up, thoroughly enjoyed!

I enjoy non fiction titles on many subjects and was drawn to this by the cover. I’m pleased I requested a review copy; it’s one of the most fascinating titles I’ve listened to in a long while and not one a subject I’d have thought about. We all take perfume fir granted. This is the story of the history of fragrances and perfume development and the two most involved in developing ‘elixir’ and their fight to persuade others, mainly scientists, that it was possible.

That may sound a little dull, but it’s written in such a way that in part, it almost reads like a novel. Theresa Levitt has given people real substance and set in a historical backdrop of the Revolution and subsequent events, it’s firmly set in time and place. I loved the historic detail and imagine the rear h was meticulous and extensive. To meld this into a highly engaging account is no mean feat.

The narration is excellent and really added to the pleasure of the title. The narrator’s delivery is measured and clear and I really enjoyed listening to the story.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

This was a very different sort of book to my normal type of reads. I enjoyed hearing about the history of events in France, the way elixirs were developed and the people who were involved with it. It was a very informative book, covering the French Revolution. Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for a pre publication audio book version for my enjoyment.

I don't often read/listen to non-fiction so this made a nice change, particularly as it was interesting in the same way a novel can be. Early on it describes how hot water was considered bad for health, which made it clear why scents, perfumes and elixirs etc were so popular and necessary. The narrator provided excellent listening material to all the facts about this interesting subject. Would recommend.

Elixir is a thoroughly enjoyable history book, relating the story of scientists and pioneers in revolutionary and Napoleonic France as alchemy crystallises into the more systematic science of chemistry.

There is a lot of really interesting information on perfume making, from ancient techniques of extracting essential oils from flowers to the modern method of making synthetic chemical smells, but that forms just a part of the wider history of French chemistry. I particularly enjoyed learning about optically active substances and chirality which I hadn't thought about since science lessons at school.

I listened to the audiobook version and I found the narrator's voice very pleasant to listen to.

In 'Elixir: a Parisian Perfume House and the Quest for the Secret of Life', Professor Theresa Levitt pulls off the remarkable feat of draping non-fiction in the adornments of fiction. Not that this was her goal in writing ‘Elixir’, but it explains why, even though I seldom read historical non fiction, my request to obtain a pre-release of the audiobook most gratifyingly paid off. Everything about the book appealed to my usual tastes in fiction: the premise, description, the subtitle and that striking cover art (with the blue scrolling border); they all attracted me.

Already a lauded author of non fiction, graduate of MIT and Harvard, Levitt brings to the history of Edouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent’s struggles against the scientific establishment, a deft humanising (even romanticising) of the historical figures involved. What a flair for the history of science! I'm not familiar with Levitt's other titles, so I can’t compare their style to the way in which, in 'Elixir', she imbues history with narrative, dramatic tension, and character development.

Throughout, I was wholly invested in Levitt's unfolding of the 'delicate and complex argument[s]' that characterise this slice of the history of science, and perhaps, this is in some part due to Esther Wane's gorgeous narration. I can’t contemplate this audiobook performed by any other.

The subject of the book is, bluntly, the story of men arguing with other men over what lots of men discover when they interfere with nature and muck around with elements of it. That's perhaps overly disparaging, for - of course - in the current age, my life has benefitted dramatically from the chemical discoveries expounded in 'Elixir'. Yet, it should be marked that Levitt, a female author, has achieved the spectacular, and - through inspired selection of excerpts from letters and textual sources - she succeeds in making this the story, not of the stark facts of how men throughout history have subdued and transmogrified the world around them, but a story of emotion, sympathy, empathy, and pathos.

The imagism employed in Levitt's portrayal of chemical reactions - especially of the expedition to understand the crystalline characteristics of natural matter - is wonderfully visual, highly sensual and pictorial.

In the end, 'Elixir' boasts the most wonderfully satisfying cyclical narrative that snakes back round to where it began, as Levitt expounds her conclusion that 'the forces in play in our laboratories differ from those which govern vegetable nature.' The book accelerates and accelerates to a truly captivating final few chapters; the last chapter alone is astonishingly information-dense and scintillating. We have travelled, carried by Levitt's stirring narrative, from the early 1800s to the vision of a modern space probe lying on its side on a comet, its drill broken and inoperable, unable to take an uncontaminated amino acid sample, travelling off and onward in space. What a memorable closing image in a truly memorable book.

My great, great thanks go to John Murray Press UK Audio and Basic Books, for a review copy through NetGalley.

I doubt I would every have picked up the written book, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audio presentation. History books are not my usual cup of tea, but this book intrigue me, and I was rewarded with an interesting listen and entertained by so many little anecdotes. The listener is presented with so many different sides to the story of perfume and the discoveries it led to. I found the book gave such an insight into the history of chemical research and apparatus in the 19th century, when it was often a past time of the rich. The history as the ‘Elixer of life’ was searched for. The story of perfume favour, use and production in 19th century France, along side the political unrest. The ups and downs of chemical research and commercial success, often determined by King or ruling authority. And in that, the political shenanigans to claim ownership, prestige and financial benefit by both individuals and Countries. Thank you to John Murray Press UK Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Unfortunately, I gave up on this after 25%. I thought it was a fiction book, but it’s more
Non-fiction. There were so many facts and information that it was hard to keep up. The narration was good, but I think this is probably a book that should be read and not listened to. I will try again, when the book is released, as I was interested when I read the description. I have given three stars as I’m not sure how to rate it as I didn’t finish it. I’ll return to edit my review, in a few months, when I purchase and read the book.

I first thought that this was a work of fiction as it reads that way but what a fantastic work of non fiction with beautifully crafted prose
Set in the 18th and 19th Century Paris, Elixir tells the story of Edouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent, the son of a perfumer and a fellow aspiring chemist, who pursue their love for science and prove their doubters wrong with their extensive work
Edouard’s family run a perfume shop and it is here the two use the ingredients to prove the secret of life by using alchemy and botany, I couldn’t have been happier as these are two of my favourite subjects
The atmosphere and descriptions are intoxicating and realistic while the characters are eccentric and there has obviously been deep research done on the subject
With every sentence you can smell all the wonderful scents and every part of the story was hugely engaging for me
The narration was beautiful and really brought the story to life
This was wonderful and I will be giving this as a gift to many people