Natasha Lester
Author Interview - Natasha Lester
Author of The Paris Orphan, The Paris Secret, The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard
About The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard
"Vogue meets Daisy Jones & the Six," says New York Times bestseller Kate Quinn, in this bold novel of feminism and fashion set in 1970s New York City and the historic designers’ showdown in Versailles.
Everyone remembers her daringly short, silver lamé dress. It was iconic photo capturing an electric moment, where emerging American designer Astrid Bricard is young, uninhibited, and on the cusp of fashion and feminism’s changing landscape. She and fellow designer Hawk Jones are all over Vogue magazine and New York City's disco scene. Yet she can't escape the shadow of her mother, Mizza Bricard, infamous "muse" for Christian Dior. Astrid would give anything to take her place among the great houses of couture–on her own terms. I won’t inspire it when I can create it.
But then Astrid disappeared…
Now Astrid's daughter, Blythe, holds what remains of her mother and grandmother's legacies. Of all the Bricard women, she can gather the torn, painfully beautiful fabrics of three generations of heartbreak to create something that will shake the foundations of fashion. The only piece missing is the one question no one's been able to answer: What really happened to Astrid?
Author Interview - Natasha Lester
Author I draw inspiration from:
Kate Morton is an incredible writer, whose books are universally loved. She’s an Aussie like me and I’m inspired by the way she writes stories that people all over the world read and adore. I would love to be able to do that. And she gets better and better with every book, which is truly admirable.
Author Interview - Natasha Lester | Author I draw inspiration from
Favorite place to read a book:
In bed. I read every night in bed for half an hour before I turn off the light to go to sleep. It’s why I sleep so well, I’m sure! And why I dream such a lot — all those stories spinning around my head.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Francis Lymond from Dorothy Dunnett’s The Lymond Chronicles. I have never read a more complex, occasionally irritating, funny, intelligent, surprising and, of course, heart-meltingly romantic character. I have no doubt he would know a hundred ways to pass the time while stuck in an elevator.
Author Interview - Natasha Lester | Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I was born knowing I wanted to be an author. I have never not wanted to be an author, although I took a few detours on my road to get here.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Paperback and audiobook. I always have an audiobook with me in the car. If I’m reading, I like to get away from screens and curl up with a paperback.
The last book I read:
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I loved it! I’m now working my way through her entire backlist.
Author Interview - Natasha Lester | The last book I read
Pen & paper or computer:
Definitely computer! I have the world’s messiest handwriting — I often find it hard to interpret the scribbled notes I’ve written to myself about a scene that’s sprung to mind so there's no way I’d be able to read an entire book that I’d written by hand.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Katey Kontent in Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. She knows how to shop, drink and dance her way through 1930s Manhattan, and I’d have a lot of fun keeping up with her. But she’s also smart, witty and kind beneath the good-time girl surface, which would make her good company too.
Author Interview - Natasha Lester | Book character I think I’d be best friends with
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a:
Definitely something to do with fashion, perhaps a fashion curator at a museum like the Met, or the curator of my own high-end vintage fashion collection.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I’m currently writing a book set around the advent of Christian Dior’s New Look so I have a very soft spot for his late 1940s gowns. They’re extravagant, and ultra-feminine and the architecture of each piece is truly amazing.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I’d love to go to Paris Fashion Week. And preferably have front row seats!
My signature drink:
Gin and tonic. It’s always a good time for gin and tonic.
Favorite artist:
I’m going to stretch the definition of artist into photography and choose Louise Dahl-Wolfe, a brilliant fashion photographer during the 1930s-1950s.
Number one on my bucket list:
To have a movie made out of one of my books. That would be the dreamiest of all dreams come true.
Anything else you'd like to add:
Just that I was blown away by all the wonderful support for The Paris Seamstress last year so I’d like to say thank you to all my amazing readers. I hope you all enjoy The Paris Orphan too.
About The Paris Orphan:
New York City/Paris, 1942: When American model Jessica May arrives in Europe to cover the war as a photojournalist for Vogue, most of the soldiers are determined to make her life as difficult as possible. But three friendships change that. Journalist Martha Gellhorn encourages Jess to bend the rules. Captain Dan Hallworth keeps her safe in dangerous places so she can capture the stories that truly matter. And most important of all, the love of a little orphan named Victorine gives Jess strength to do the impossible. But her success will come at a price...
France, 2005: Decades after World War II, D'Arcy Hallworth arrives at a beautiful chateau to curate a collection of famous wartime photos by a reclusive artist. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, but D'Arcy has no idea that this job will uncover decades of secrets that, once revealed, will change everything she thought she knew about her mother, Victorine, and alter D'Arcy's life forever.
Author Interview - Natasha Lester
