I Wrote a Book About a Woman Who Fought ...
For the past two years, I’ve been writing The Mademoiselle Alliance, a book about a woman named Marie-Madeleine Fourcarde who fought against a collaborationist French government that declared abortion to be treasonous, and thus punishable by death. A government that made it illegal for women to work in the public sector. A government that reintroduced laws that prohibited women from having control over the money they earned. A government that made divorce laws more restrictive for women. She also fought against the Nazis and their fascist ideology, fought against the celebration and acceptance of violence, fought for freedom and liberal democracy, fought to overthrow a regime that abhorred some groups of people so much that it imprisoned and murdered them.
I had a moment of despair last week when contemplating this book of mine that will be published in April 2025. Why would anyone want to read a book like this now? I thought. Why would anyone be interested in historical fiction, in the events of the past, when the events of the present are so up close and personal right now.
But then I remembered. I wrote a book about a woman who fought. A woman who found others who believed in the same things as she did and who convinced them to join her. A woman who persevered despite loss and pain, despite having to send her children away, despite the fact that entire cities were shut down while police hunted for her and her friends. I wrote a book about a woman who made a difference, a huge and enduring difference, a woman who proves to us all that one brave, selfless human being, supported by other brave selfless human beings, can change the world.
That’s exactly the kind of story we need right now, isn’t it?
The more stories we have to inspire us, the more art we have to show us what we’re capable of, the more beauty we surround ourselves with, the stronger we’ll all be. So let’s keep writing and reading. Let’s keep sharing stories. Let’s soak our minds in the glorious balm of words and keep going. Let’s raise a glass to freedom, and to books.
I’m so glad that the dedication I wrote for The Mademoiselle Alliance is this:
There’s a LOT Going On Behind the Scenes
It’s hard to make any kind of easy segue from that so I’m just going to launch straight in and say that it’s been an extraordinarily busy month for me. I’ve just finished the proofread of the North American edition of The Mademoiselle Alliance, and checked through the Australianisation edit of the book for the Australian market.
That might sound a bit strange, but because my lead publisher is in America, I write my books in American English. Once we get to the proofreading stage, my Australian publisher gets to work on the Australian edition, which has different spellings, different punctuation and some different words.
What that all means is that I’ve read my own book a LOT over this past month—and I still love it. Phew!
We’re also printing the proofs (or advance reading copies) of both editions right now and I can’t wait to hold one of these early copies of the book in my hands. Of course I’ll be doing a giveaway here for my subscribers as soon as I get one!
And just last week I had a meeting with my publicist. We’re starting to plan the book tour! I’ll be on the road in April and May, avoiding school holidays and all the other public holidays in April. I’m looking forward to having a list of events to share with you in the new year and I’m most especially looking forward to seeing you at those events.
I’ve also been writing all the book club material: questions for your book club to consider, a guide to some of the locations in France you can visit that feature in the book or that have memorials to Marie-Madeleine’s agents, and a timeline of events to put the book into the context of the wider war.
Which means …
A Special Announcement for Book Clubs
I’ll be opening up to take a limited number of bookings from book clubs that would like me to visit them in person (if you live in Perth) or virtually via Zoom if you live elsewhere to discuss The Mademoiselle Alliance.
I don’t ordinarily do book club visits, but this book is so important and there’s so much to discuss that I’ve decided to make time for it this year. I’m opening this up to Australian and North American readers, as UK readers won’t have their paperback edition for several months. I’m excited to meet some of you and to talk to your book club!
If you’re interested, then please take a moment to fill out this form.
What to Read This Month
A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed about five books that I’ve read recently, including one that I know will be on my list of favourites for 2024. And yes, I’ll be publishing that list here on Substack in early December, so look out for it.
Right now I’m reading The God of the Woods by Liz Moore and it’s fantastic! Sometimes I find these types of thrillers collapse at the end and I’m really hoping this one doesn’t because, so far, I’m totally invested in the story. I have an inkling that I know what’s going on, but I’m also fully prepared to have the rug pulled out from under me. It’s a great example of a plot-heavy book that takes the time to craft deeply compelling characters.
Have you read it? What did you think? And if you haven’t, this is one that I recommend.
My 2026 Book
Yes, there will be another book after The Mademoiselle Alliance! I’m about halfway through my fourth draft of this brand new book, which will hopefully be my last big redraft before I give it another read through and a polishing up early next year, ready to submit it to my publisher by the deadline in February.
I spent a week at my beach house in mid-October to really dive deeply into the redraft and it was just what I needed. I had a big breakthrough, wrote some excellent words, rediscovered the joy I get from writing, and managed the lows of my hip dysplasia, which bites me on the ass—quite literally!—from time to time.
I shared a series of Notes here on Substack that take you through each day of the retreat. If you’re interested in reading all of them, you can click here, which will take you to the Notes section of my Substack. You’ll need to scroll down to the Notes dated Oct 6 to find the start of my retreat notes.
All in all, this book for 2026 been so much fun to write. Hopefully next year I can start to tell you a little more about it. All I can tell you for now is that it begins in 1957 and ends in 1965. I hope that sounds good!
Short and Sweet
Here are a few other bits and pieces from the past month.
Watching: I’m up to the last season of Slow Horses. Jesus, what an opening episode! I just about hyperventilated. I’m very happy to hear that there will be a fifth and sixth season of this show and will need to find something to fill the void once I reach the end of season 4.
More Watching: I also saw the movie Lee—twice! Once before the US election and once after, and I have to say it added another dimension entirely seeing it on both sides of that event. I also wrote about Lee Miller’s extraordinary life, and the remarkable Kate Winslet who played her, in this post.
And More Watching! Last week I spent another few days at the beach house with my daughter, who’s over from Sydney for the summer and will be living down there and working in the nearest town. We’ll be joining her once school’s out and I can’t wait! We needed something to watch that would be easy and fun, so we thought we’d give the adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals a try. I’ve got to say I was skeptical, but I loved it! And so did my daughter. We giggled and gasped and had a very good time every evening when we curled up together to watch it.
Buying: One of my favourite places not too far from our beach house is Cambray Cheese where they make sheep’s milk cheese. I was delighted to discover recently that they’re now selling sheep’s milk too! Sheep’s milk is a nutritional powerhouse and much better tolerated for the lactose intolerant among us, like me. And it’s really yummy! So if you’re down in the south west of Western Australia at any time, make sure you pay them a visit. Our favourite cheese is the Amsterdammer, followed by their camembert, baked in the oven with garlic. Yum!
That’s it from me! I’ll be back towards the end of the month with another post for my paid subscribers where I show you exactly what goes into the copyedit and the proofread of a book‚ and where you should get a little peek at The Mademoiselle Alliance.
Until then, have a beautifully bookish month. xx
Yes, we do need your Mademoiselle Alliance here in the U.S. as soon as possible, and I will recommend it to my neighborhood book club.
I just finished The Women by Kristen Hannah. I learned so much about the war. I was in college at the time, protected from the daily news. I still have my POW bracelet. It’s a powerful historical novel. Everyone should read it.