THE HOUSE OF DEAD SCENTS is a novel about a collector of rare bottles and scents in a small town in Vojvodina, marked by “spiritual anxiety, a modest circle of friends, the limitations of small-town orbit, and the eternal apathy of people.” It takes us to a mysterious house where scents intertwine with memories and illusions. The central character, Gedeon Volni, lives in a place that reveals the transience of life and the fragility of identity. Around the protagonist and his unusual collecting passion, the stories of a series of characters intertwine and unfold. The author explores belonging, loneliness, and the illusions that shape human destiny. The originality and liveliness of Vida Ognjenović’s writing are reminiscent of Gedeon’s enthusiasm for preserving the life of scents and invite the reader to reflect on their own experience of time and memory. “Dead scents” become a metaphor for existence—when they disappear, they leave no trace behind. Above all, The House of Dead Scents is an exceptional contemporary novel about utopia.