Season of the Dragonflies.[em] [/em]

Creech’s debut brings a magical realist touch to a tale of choices and consequences. In early-20th-century America, 18-year-old Serena Lenore defies her businessman father and elopes with Alex Bannister, a handsome young doctor. They live for a while in Borneo, where Alex researches the medical uses of local plants, and Serena discovers a new kind of flower. After the couple returns to America, settling down in Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Serena uses the flower to create a perfume that magically bestows success upon the women who wear it. Moving ahead to the present, the narrative finds Serena’s daughter, Willow, heading the company founded by her mother, which is now called Lenore International, but beginning to lose her memory. Willow has two daughters: Mya, who has devoted herself to the business, and Lucia, who has rejected it to pursue acting in New York City. Lucia returns, however, after the failure of both her marriage and career. Meanwhile, dissatisfied customer Zoe Bennett, a fading Hollywood star, blackmails Lenore International by threatening to tell the world about the perfume, until now a secret to everyone but the company’s select clients. By turns charming and suspenseful, this is a memorable first novel. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM. (Aug.)