René le Florentin was indeed apprenticed at the monastery and there created scents and creams for the young Catherine de Medici. When the fourteen-year-old duchessina traveled to France to marry the prince, she took René with her. He and Catherine are credited with bringing perfume to their newly adopted country.
René’s perfume store in Paris was as described, and along with perfume he was credited with inventing creative poisons like the ones in the book, which his queen and her subjects used on their enemies.
Catherine de Medici, her aspirations, issues, superstitions, family, reliance on Cosimo Ruggieri and René le Florentin, her reign and the customs of her country are presented here as history portrays them.
Cosimo Ruggieri was suspected of all the nefarious activity René suspects him of in this novel.
There was in fact a secret passageway from Catherine’s room to René’s workshop, and their use of it was documented. Despite how much we know about their relationship, there is very little known about René le Florentin’s personal life. He is rumored to have fathered several children but was never married.
Isabeau is a fictional character, but there was a “flying squadron” of women who were trained spies for Catherine.
The history of perfume and the fragrance industry past and present is based on research, and I would like to thank Victoria Frolova for her invaluable help. It was she who introduced me to both momie and tutty—real ingredients used in the Renaissance.
While there is no Phoenix Foundation in New York City or anywhere, the work done there by Dr. Malachai Samuels was inspired by work done at the University of Virginia Medical Center by Dr. Ian Stevenson, who studied children with past-life memories for more than thirty years. Dr. Bruce Greyson and Dr. Jim Tucker, a child psychiatrist, continue Ian Stevenson’s work today.
As for the theory of the dying breaths: We don’t know where this concept originated or if anyone in the Renaissance suspected such a thing was possible. But it’s not a far stretch from the well-documented and centuries-old alchemical search for immortality to the breath concept.
We do know that in the twentieth century, automotive magnate Henry Ford and the great inventor Thomas Edison, who both believed in reincarnation, supported the idea that in death, the soul leaves the body with its last breath.
Edison’s dying breath, collected by his son, Charles, is in fact on display at the Edison Winter Home in Fort Myers, Florida.
Acknowledgments
My name is on the cover of this novel, but it takes a team to bring a book to life.
For the third time and with even more gratitude, thanks to my editor, Sarah Durand, who is truly an author’s dream, and to Judith Curr, whose support means the world to me.
To Lisa Scambira, Hilary Tinsman, Ben Lee, Daniella Wexler and everyone at Atria Books whose hands this book passed through—your hard work and creative thinking does not go unnoticed.
To my agent, Dan Conaway, who is truly my knight in shining armor, and everyone at Writers House—I am so proud to be on your roster.
I also want to thank the readers, booksellers and librarians everywhere who make all the work worthwhile.
And, as always, I’m very grateful to my family and friends, especially my father and Ellie, the Kulicks and Mara Gleckel. And most of all, Doug.
About the Author
Photograph by Pushett Irby Photography
M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of fourteen novels, one of which (The Reincarnationist) was the basis of the television series Past Lives. She is a the co-president and founding board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. Visit her online at MJRose.com.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
authors.simonandschuster.com/M-J-Rose
Also by M. J. Rose
FICTION
Seduction
The Book of Lost Fragrances
Lip Service
In Fidelity
Flesh Tones
Lying in Bed
The Halo Effect
The Delilah Complex
The Venus Fix
The Reincarnationist
The Memoirist
The Hypnotist
NONFICTION
Buzz Your Book (with Douglas Clegg)
What To Do Before Your Book Launch (with Randy Susan Meyers)
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Melisse Shapiro
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rose, M. J. The collector of dying breaths : a novel of suspense / M. J. Rose.—First Atria Books hardcover edition. pages cm. 1. Paranormal fiction. I. Title. PS3568.O76386C66 2014 813'.54—dc232013041448
ISBN 978-1-4516-2153-2
ISBN 978-1-4516-2155-6 (ebook)
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Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author