In the early 2000s, NATASHA LESTER swapped her role as Maybelline’s marketing manager for a career in novel writing – and hasn’t looked back, although, she says she does miss the perk of free lipstick. Her latest book is The Chateau on Sunset.

We asked Natasha to share five surprising things about her herself.

1. I love collecting mid-century furniture and objects and I spend far too much time on websites and in second-hand furniture stores scouring for new acquisitions. My favourite pieces I’ve collected recently are two beautiful 40-year old red leather Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs and a gorgeous Ladderax wall unit for my office, which houses some of my books and a 1950s typewriter.

2. Last year, I learned to knit. My daughter, who’s studying fashion design, was taking a knitting unit at university and I thought it looked like a very relaxing thing to do. So I bought a ball of wool and a pair of knitting needles and she taught me the basics. It took me an entire year to make a scarf. But I love it, dropped stitches and all, because I made it!

3. I swim in the ocean every day. We’ve recently moved to Cottesloe in WA and our house is a three-minute walk from the beach. So I’ve made a pact with myself to swim each day. I’m hoping I can stick to it even through winter! It means that my bathers are now the first thing I reach for in the morning, rather than my phone. It’s made such a difference to my creativity, my wellbeing and my writing practice because I’m filling my mind with fresh sea air for the first hour of the day, rather than internet slop.

4. This year, I learned to read tarot cards. There’s a very famous fortune-telling scene in Jane Eyre, which my new novel reimagines into a tarot card reading scene. I decided that to write the scene authentically, I needed to understand how to read tarot cards myself. So now I have a set of cards, and I have a lot of fun doing readings for friends and family!

5. When I was 10 years old, I borrowed Jane Eyre from the library. I probably understood only about half of what I read, but I finished it in just a few sittings and was utterly absorbed by the passion, the Gothic eeriness of Thornfield Hall, the madwoman in the attic, the undercurrent of darkness and of love. It quickly became my favourite book, one I reread often – I’ve always said the reason my male heroes have dark hair and dark eyes is because they’re part of my Rochester fantasy! So it’s with absolute joy that I’ve sat down with the book on my desk for the past couple of years and reimagined a version of that story into The Chateau on Sunset.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In the early 2000s, Natasha Lester made the move from marketing manager for Maybelline cosmetics to writing novels, and she regrets nothing – except that she no longer gets free lipstick. She is now a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of ten books that have been translated into 21 languages and published all around the world.

Her eighth novel, The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard, was longlisted for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize. While she loves to travel, she also loves returning to her home in Perth, where her favourite thing to do is to go for a run beside the beautiful Swan River. Her latest novel is The Chateau on Sunset.

Visit Natasha Lester’s website here.

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Visit the Hachette website here.