Hachette Australia is excited to announce a new two-book global deal for Perth author Natasha Lester in conjunction with Hachette New Zealand, Hachette Book Group USA, and Little, Brown Book Group (UK) for publication in 2022 and 2023.

The first novel, To Lillie, From Paris, will publish September 2022. Set between Manhattan, Switzerland and Paris before and after WWII, the book follows a former spy who tries to begin a new life in France working as publicist for the just-launching House of Dior, but her past soon catches up with her. 

World rights were acquired by Rebecca Saunders (Head of Fiction, Hachette Australia), Leah Hultenschmidt (Grand Central Publishing) and Rebecca Farrell (Little, Brown UK) from Kevan Lyon at Marshal Lyon Literary Agency. 

Natasha said: “I’m so thrilled to be working with Hachette globally on two more books. It’s a rare thing to be living your dream as a writer, which I'm so lucky to be doing, and I can’t wait to share these new stories with my wonderful readers. It’s also a rare thing to find someone as passionate about my books as Rebecca Saunders at Hachette Australia, and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with her and the rest of the Hachette team for a long time to come!”  

Next year, Hachette Australia will publish The Riviera House, the first Natasha Lester novel to publish simultaneously in ANZ and the US. 

Before embarking on a writing career that has sold 365,000 copies globally, Natasha worked as a marketing executive for L’Oréal, managing the Maybelline brand, before returning to university to study creative writing and completing a Master of Creative Arts. Natasha has written five novels for Hachette Australia including A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald, Her Mother's Secret and the top-ten Australian bestsellers The Paris Seamstress and The French Photographer. The Paris Seamstress was a USA Today bestseller and The French Photographer was on the New York Times bestseller list for two weeks. This year’s The Paris Secret, published in March, is Natasha’s highest-selling book in Australia, in all formats, and will be published in 14 territories.