Base Notes

The Scents of a Life

By: Adelle Stripe

Write A Review

Hardcover | 13 February 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
288 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.1 x 16.4 x 2.8

Hardcover

RRP $49.99

$49.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $12.44 with

Ships in 15 to 25 business days

A Telegraph Best Book of 2025

'Ingenious' - ????? Telegraph

'Candid and compelling' - Guardian

'Wistful, sad and funny' - Spectator

'Working-class life pinned to the page' - Herald

'Already your future has been planned out. There is not much choice about what to become in the small town where you live . . .'

A bedroom dreamer with a headful of Warhol, Adelle Stripe's formative years were ones of daytime drinking and religious fervour, frustrated mothers and reckless daughters, desire, ambition and the pursuit of creativity. Told through a prism of vintage perfumes, and played out in vivid detail with startling clarity and colour, Base Notes chronicles an unbridled Northern England of the late 20th century already fading from view.

With a keen eye for the absurd, an ear cocked to eavesdropped conversations and a nose that finds perfume wherever it goes, this tragicomic tale of working-class womanhood is no cliched story of redemption or escape, but instead a bleakly funny yet unflinching memoir of dead-end jobs, lost weekends, brief encounters and those wild, forgotten characters who slip through the cracks.

Infused with acerbic observations and unexpected poignancy, Base Notes sees Adelle Stripe boldly laying her lived experience on the page, creating literature from a life less ordinary.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.