Who are you without your inhibitions? Author Francesca Serritella’s latest novel asks just that — and will help add a little color to your bookshelf, to boot.
PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover of Full Bloom, publishing this summer.
In Full Bloom, Serritella — The New York Times bestselling author of Ghosts of Harvard — tells the story of how one woman’s life is forever changed by a mysterious perfume that makes her infinitely desirable in all aspects of life.
“Reeling from a breakup and overlooked at her job as a lighting designer, Iris Sunnegren finds herself stuck, disconnected and lonely in crowded New York City,” a synopsis reads. “Her wealthy friends are married and having babies, while she’s trying to pay for freezing her eggs. And the future she longs for feels out of reach.”
Iris’ mysterious, older French woman neighbor gifts her a bespoke perfume, and the scent leaves her feeling like a different woman after just one spritz.
Penguin Random House
“Suddenly, she is the object of every man’s desire, and she can satisfy her own hungers for sex, love and ambition. She can cast off her inhibitions and use her newfound allure to dazzle the high-profile client, attract a man who excites her like no other and access all the rarified spaces that once excluded her,” the synopsis continues. “Invigorated by the perfume, Iris embodies her maximum power — a flower fully bloomed.”
But all is not sweet-smelling for Iris. The power of the perfume also awakens Iris’ buried memories and “nightmares of the childhood house fire she barely survived return to haunt her.”
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“As Iris ventures deeper into the glamorous and male-dominated worlds of New York real estate, dimly-lit steakhouses and beachfront mansions in the Hamptons, she finds herself getting closer to unspeakable truths — about the people she trusted, about the people she loved and about the new circle of power players that invited her in,” the synopsis teases.
Nina Subin
A Harvard University graduate, Serritella is also the author of a nine-book series of essay collections co-written with her mother, author Lisa Scottoline, which are based on “Chick Wit,” their Sunday column in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Full Bloom will be published on Aug. 5, 2025, from Ballantine Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
