Tilo, an immigrant from India, runs an Indian spice shop in Oakland, California. While she dispenses the classic ingredients for curries and kormas, she also helps her customers to gain a more precious commodity: whatever they most desire. For Tilo is a Mistress of Spices, a priestess of the secret, magical powers of spices. Through those who visit and revisit her shop - Ahuja's wife, caught in an unhappy, abusive marriage; Jagjit, the victim of racist attacks at school; the noisy bougainvillaea girls, rejecting the strict upbringing of their tradition-bound Indian parents; Haroun who drives a taxi and dreams the American dream - we get a glimpse into the life of the local Indian expatriate community. To each Tilo dispenses wisdom and the appropriate spice: coriander for sight; turmeric to erase wrinkles; cinnamon for finding friends; fenugreek to make a rejected wife desirable again; chillies for the cleansing of evil. But when a lonely American comes into the store, a troubled Tilo cannot find the right spice, for he arouses in her a forbidden desire, and following her own desires will destroy her magical powers. Compelling and lyrical, full of heady scents and with more than a touch of humour, this novel explores the clash between East and West even as it unveils the universal mysteries of the human heart.

★舊金山紀事報「二十世紀百大好書」、洛杉磯時報年度好書、西雅圖時報年度好書、英國柑橘文學獎入圍
★電影《濃情戀人香》原著小說

我是香料的情婦。
從安契到番紅花，皆臣服於我，任我差遣。
我只需一聲呢喃，就能讓他們獻出全身精粹、全部魔力。
除了香料，我再也不愛任何人。我才不需要去愛可悲的凡人男子。
我相信這點。完全相信。

天邊的眼之星、自負的巫女先知、無情的海盜女王--她是緹蘿塔瑪，從一個名字流浪到另一個名字的渴愛之人。當頭戴珠寶的海蛇指引她至香料之島、成為香料情婦的那一天起，她便誓言棄絕自我，虛心潛居於衰老與皺紋之下，終生侍奉香料。
於是緹蘿穿越銀河夜空，自灰燼中醒來，投身「香料小舖」，等候需要療癒的陌生人叩門。她聽從始祖嬤嬤的叮嚀，恪守情婦戒律：不照鏡子、迴避任何肌膚之親、不得踏出香料舖一步、只能醫人不能自醫，更重要的是，不能愛上任何人。
然而，香料並未馴服她的天性，她那多骨節的火山手掌紋複雜，險路暗伏。她一再違抗香料，將魔力御為己用，甚至，愛上一個人......
聽！香料們正鼓譟喧嘩，悄聲引燃桑巴帝之火，警告破戒的情婦，地震將至。
肉桂施予友伴、茴香熨息怒氣，蓮藕催情、乾胡椒讓人盡吐真言。
香料啊，你究竟是罪咎的良醫，還是欲望的使徒？