Cover Reveal Time! It's a Stunner!
I have not one, but two beautiful covers to show you: the Australian cover and the UK cover for The Mademoiselle Alliance.
Hello everybody! I’ve just come back from a solo writing retreat refreshed and revived and head down into the manuscript for my 2026 book—but before we get to 2026, we have all the excitement of 2025 ahead of us! It’s getting close to the end of the year now, which means it’s less than six months to go until The Mademoiselle Alliance is in bookstores everywhere, so all the fun stuff is starting to happen! Before I went on my retreat, I finished the copyedit for the book, which I wrote about for my paid subscribers a couple of weeks ago—the post will give you a little bit of a peek behind the scenes of the book too.
But now it’s time for one of the best moments in the whole writing process: the cover reveal! You saw the incredible North American cover for The Mademoiselle Alliance back in July, which is very different to the Australian cover I’m about to show you. I always find it fascinating that the same story can be represented in so many different ways.
So are you ready to see this cover?!
Here goes …
The Mademoiselle Alliance Australia/NZ Cover Reveal
The Mademoiselle Alliance is based on the true story of the bravest, most extraordinary woman, a woman named Marie-Madeleine Fourcade—the ONLY woman to have led a French Resistance network during WWII. That’s right, only one woman.
And isn’t the cover beautiful?! It looks almost cinematic to me, and that’s exactly how the story feels. This book is epic, it’s sweeping; it’s about the very best people in the world and the very worst people in the world. It will make you believe in the power of humanity—and it will probably break your heart too.
Here’s the official blurb.
Tell Me More!
How did a young Parisian mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in France? A powerful, heartbreaking story by the New York Times bestselling author.
Morocco, 1928. Eighteen-year-old Frenchwoman Marie-Madeleine is not the kind of woman who goes through life sitting down, something her new husband can attest. Her unconventionalities - rally car driving, flying planes and dabbling in intelligence work for the government - earn her a reputation, but she knows who she is at heart: an adventurer.
Paris, 1938. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, a chance encounter with a mysterious man codenamed Navarre turns Marie-Madeleine's life upside down. Recruited to help build a resistance network known only as Alliance, she conceals her identity - and gender - as she navigates a perilous double life away from her children and the man she loves. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away.
Bestselling Australian novelist Natasha Lester passionately brings to life the true story of one of history's unsung heroes: Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII France. Her story is one of epic love, tragic loss and magnificent leadership.
Are You Excited??!!
I can’t wait to share this story with you! I’m so proud of The Mademoiselle Alliance—it’s my best work to date.
If you’d like to, you can preorder the book now. Preordering is a way to show the bookshops that people are excited about the book and that they should get excited too. It means they order more copies and the word of mouth spreads and my story is able to find its way into more hands. And if there’s ever a story that deserves to find its way into as many hands as possible, it’s the story of Marie-Madeline Fourcade.
Mother. Car-rallyer. Pilot. 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. I’m so excited for you to meet her.
The Mademoiselle Alliance will be published in Australia/NZ on 26 March 2025 and in North America on 8 April 2025. You can preorder the book here.
And For UK Readers …
The Mademoiselle Alliance is also being published in the UK. But there’s a twist … It has a different title in the UK. Now, this isn’t my ideal scenario. But, from time to time, different publishers in different countries decide that a title just doesn’t work for them, and they’ll choose a different one. I understand my publisher’s reasons in this case, and have agreed to the change, despite knowing it does cause some confusion for readers.
The long and the short of it is: same book, different title. And you get a beautiful cover in the UK too.
In the UK The Mademoiselle Alliance will be published under the title The Paris Code. The ebook is available from 1 April 2025, with the paperback to follow in fall 2025. You can preorder now.
And here’s your cover!
What Else Has Been Happening?
I’ll keep the rest of my monthly update brief, because I know this email is already long! But it’s been a busy month.
Travels: I went to Sydney with my son. We caught up with my daughter, went to see Hamilton (again) and yes, I cried again. We saw opera at the Opera House, we wandered around the Chinese Gardens, which are an incredible oasis in the middle of the city, we ate a lot of food and generally had a fabulous time together.
Books: I just finished Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray, which is out next year, and I also finished Blue Sisters by Coco Mellor. I’m about halfway through both You Belong With Me by Mhairi McFarlane—the follow up to Who’s That Girl (a book I love)—and All Fours by Miranda July. After that, it’s time for A God in the Woods by Liz Moore. So many books and I have so many thoughts about them that I’ll do a bookish post for my paid subscribers at the end of October where I review and discuss what I thought about each of them. There are some very big books on that list!
Watching: I’d seen Slow Horses around and thought it was about horses! So I hadn’t watched it because that title just didn’t grab me (interesting how powerful a title can be sometimes). It has nothing to do with horses and everything to do with spies, but in a much fresher way than the usual James Bond fare. I’ve just finished Season One and I’m loving it—definitely one I recommend. And my kids and I watched the TV series reboot of Mr & Mrs Smith over the school holidays and thought it was laugh out loud hilarious. It’s better for older kids (mine are 14 and 16) and it’s also about spies (some things never get old!), but we really enjoyed it.
Listening: I’ve raved about the Books, Beach and Beyond podcast with Elin Hildebrand before but they have a newish episode with BARBARA KINGSOLVER!!! I love her books and she is so down to earth and so interesting to listen to. She talks about self-doubt and it was fascinating to hear that even she, Barbara Kingsolver, suffers from it. This is a quote from the episode:
“I say, it's stupid. I'm just writing a stupid novel. It's just stupid. Nobody would want to read this. I always feel that way. I never feel in the beginning like, yeah, I've got this. But that's part of the process too. And I think when people talk about writer's block, they're talking about writer's fear. I'm afraid to write because whatever I write is going to be stupid.”
From Books, Beach, & Beyond: Barbara Kingsolver, 2 Oct 2024
Can you imagine Barbara Kingsolver ever writing anything stupid? I can’t. But I feel such solidarity with all her thoughts there. Next time the fear comes for me, I’m going to remind myself that if Barbara Kingsolver has moments of feeling like her writing is awful and yet she turns out Demon Copperhead from the awfulness, then I too can just keep writing through it.
I’d better sign off before this email gets too long! I hope you love all the covers for The Mademoiselle Alliance. Don’t forget you can preorder now. And let me know in the comments which cover is your favourite—I’m always so interested in how readers respond to covers!
All of these covers are gorgeous!! You had me at Morocco, 1928! Looking forward to reading this one next year.
Gorgeous covers Natasha. Look forward to adding this Australian publication to my collection. Not too long now!!