Author Confessions: Natasha Lester
On her gripping new novel + the stunning views from her Australian beach house.
Natasha Lester writes of courageous, daring women, which is why I’ve always been drawn to her work. We share a purpose when it comes to writing: To portray women who step out of their expected roles, no matter the time period. An author of ten historical fiction novels and a New York Times bestseller, Natasha’s books will whisk you away to another time altogether. Her books have an air of glamour too — you know the book’s heroine will feel fashionable even if she’s deep in the trenches. If you’re not familiar with Natasha’s work, her latest novel The Mademoiselle Alliance is the perfect place to begin.
The Mademoiselle Alliance follows a young glamorous mother with a daredevil streak. In 1928, she flies planes and races cars, anything to keep her days from feeling static. But when she’s living in Paris ten years later, she meets a spy who recruits her to lead the largest spy network in occupied France. Inspired by the true story of Marie-Madeline Meric, Natasha’s novel is a “fiery tribute to a historical woman so extraordinary she almost defies belief,” says Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network.
Nastaha and I became friends after I founded Dear Fiction two years ago. Her newsletter
was a favorite of mine and she helped get me on my feet in the Substack world. One of my favorite aspects of Bijoux is when she heads to her beach house and I get a glimpse into her beach life in Australia. Photos below.Welcome, Natasha! Thank you for joining this issue of Dear Fiction.
Tell me about where you came up with the idea for The Mademoiselle Alliance?
Marie-Madeleine Fourcade is almost absent from non-fiction books about WWII and it was that very absence that made me want to find out if she was one of the many women who did extraordinary things during the war, but whose story has been forgotten. And she was. She was a mother. A rally car driver. A pilot. A journalist. A woman who became known as the beautiful spy. A woman at the top of the Gestapo’s most-wanted list. A woman whose heart was broken over and over by the war, but who kept fighting because it was the right thing to do. A woman who eventually led the largest Resistance network in France.
I adore stories of courageous women who don’t give up. Why specifically were you drawn to the story of Marie-Madeleine Méric Fourcade?
Charles de Gaulle created the Compagnons de la Libération to honour the Resistance fighters he believed had fought the hardest for France’s freedom throughout the war. He bestowed this title on 1038 people. Of them, 1032 were men, including three of Marie-Madeleine’s male lieutenants. Marie-Madeleine was not among those honoured, despite leading three thousand agents in the largest and most important WWII Resistance network. I wanted to write The Mademoiselle Alliance so that readers could honour her the way history did not.
Your book is set in Paris and Morocco. Can you talk about your relationship with both of these cities? Research trips?
I haven’t been to Morocco—yet! But I’ve been to Paris lots of times. I speak the language almost fluently and that’s a big help when researching a book like this! Specifically in Paris I visited Marie-Madeleine’s grave at the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris so I could pay homage to her. It’s a family tomb and you can read the names of her parents very clearly, and the name of her second husband from after the war. But there’s also a blank space on the grave and if you look very closely, you can see that letters were engraved there once upon a time. But weather and the years have somehow conspired together to erase Marie-Madeleine’s name from her own grave, which is a terrible metaphor for the way she’s been erased from the history books.
You’re kidding. Wow, that’s a telling detail. I love that. Let’s pivot a bit. How is this novel different from the ones you’ve written before?
It’s the first time I’ve written a bio-fiction, based primarily around a real person as the main character. I stupidly thought it would be easier because I didn’t have to come up with the plot—the plot was her life. But it was so much harder! There were 3,000 agents in the network and everyone had a real name and a codename, which makes for 6,000 names total! Way too many for a novel. And every second person’s name was either Jean, Henri or Pierre! So I had to invent a system for managing the sheer quantities of information I was grappling with.
You are based in Australia, and one of my favorite things about your Substack is when you go to your beach house and write. Do you write better there or at home in Perth?
I’m based in Perth, Western Australia. And I love my beach house! I write so much better when I’m there, probably because if I go there to write, I’m alone and don’t have to think about my kids or my husband. I can be totally selfish, follow no routine, and completely stay in the world of my book with no interruptions for days at a time. That kind of immersion is priceless. And the view! It’s hard not to be inspired by a view of the sea.
I’m inspired by your view of the sea. Can you hold a writer’s retreat there and invite poor American writers like myself that stare out at simple backyards. Ha! Can you continue to make me jealous and describe the view from your office?
I have French doors that open out onto the garden, so I have a view of greenery and trees and gorgeous garden. I love opening the doors and letting in the fresh air while I write.
When you sit down to write, what do you always have at your desk? (Tea, chocolate chips, photos of your historical person, etc)
Always tea—I drink lots of tea! And water. And a book that’s kind of like a talisman for whatever I’m working on, a book where something about the voice of the story connects in some way to the story I’m writing. I read a little each day before I begin and it helps to drop me into the voice of my own book.
What a great tip. I keep books around me too — for my most recent novel I’m working on, it’s a book by Chiamanda Ngozi Adiche. The book has nothing to do with my story but reading her words in the morning inspires me. Question: Has publishing ever made you cry?
When I made the New York Times bestseller list, I cried! I honestly couldn’t believe it. It seemed so unlikely that an author from Australia could do that. My publisher told me that I could now cross that off my bucket list and I had to confess that it wasn’t even on my bucket list because I hadn’t ever dreamed it was possible! But I went and wrote it down onto a list just so I could have the satisfaction of crossing it off!
What writer friend could you not live without?
Kate Quinn is such an extraordinary human being. Not only is she a bestselling author, but she makes the time to read the books of so many other authors and she’s been incredibly generous in giving me a wonderful endorsement quote for my last couple of books, including The Mademoiselle Alliance. But she didn’t just send me a quote; she sent me a long email telling me how much she loved the book and her words came at just the right time, in that long lead-up to publication when you’re feeling incredibly nervous as an author. It made me truly believe in my book and reminded me of how special it is to touch someone else through your writing. Her kindness at that moment meant the world to me.
How incredibly generous. Lastly, if you could have the perfect Australia day, what would you do?
I’d be at my beach house in Siesta Park—yes, it’s a real place!—and I’d get up and go for a run, then throw myself into the ocean at the end. It would be early, before anyone was up, and I’d have the whole beach to myself and the water would be the perfect temperature. Then I’d have a shower outside—is there anything better than an outdoor shower? I love ours! I’d sit on the deck and stare at the sea while I ate my breakfast and my kids would gradually get up and they’d join me and we’d just have a lovely time being together in the most beautiful place in the world.
What a dreamy beach house! (Love her books too!!) Thanks for this fabulous interview
What a beautiful beach house! I loved learning more about Natasha's research, especially her visit to the grave.