Paris, Japan, Italy, Books—So Much In One Newsletter!
A big thank you to everyone for your support and enthusiasm for my cover reveal for THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE last week. I love that you all love the cover as much as I do—I can't wait to see it out in the world! If you missed last week's post and the beautiful cover, you can catch up here.
Drumroll ... I Have a Beautiful Cover to Reveal!!!
You, my newsletter subscribers, are in for a treat today! You get to see the North American cover of THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE several hours before anyone else does (I won’t be showing it off on social media until later), which is kind of a “thank you for subscribing” bonus.” So yes, thank you for being here!
The Month That Was
It's been a busy month since I published my last author digest. I've been away to Japan, submitted the final edits for THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE, started on a second draft of my 2026 book and lots more.
One of the things I've been thinking about a lot over that time is this newsletter. I started it 18 months ago with no real idea of what I was doing, just that I wanted to share longer posts than is possible on social media, and explore more deeply some of the things I'm interested in—and that I hope my readers are interested in too. I've had lots of new subscribers sign up lately and because of that, as well as the fact that the newsletter has been going for some time now, I thought I’d take a moment to find out exactly what you come to Bijoux for.
I’ve put together a very short survey of just five questions, which I'd love for you to complete if you have a moment. It won't take very long, and will help me on those weeks when I'm tossing up between two ideas to write about and I'm not sure which one would be the most interesting for you. Thank you in advance for your input; I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Now, onto the newsletter for some thoughts about travel, books, fashion, film, and an update on what I’m working on right now! This is a long post, so Gmail may well chop it off in your email inbox. If that happens, just click on the post title and you’ll be taken to the website where you can read the whole thing.
More About The Mademoiselle Alliance
You've seen the beautiful North American cover—and the Australian and UK covers are still to come. Now the book is basically finished, with just a copy edit and proofread to go, and I'm truly excited with the way the story has come together.
Over the coming months, I'll start to share more about the story and some of the research I did that enabled me to write the book. One thing I can tell you is that I read a hell of a lot of French over the year or so that I was researching. Luckily, it's the one language I can speak, although some of that archaic French handwriting gave me one or two headaches!
For now, I'll share some pictures that I took when I travelled to France in 2022, journeying to Vergt, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and Lyon, which are just some of the places where Marie-Madeleine spent time during the war, on the run from the Nazis. I hope these whet your appetite even more for the book!
Reading Recommendations
We Begin At the End by Chris Whittaker
I heard about this book on a podcast and the hosts raved about it in such a way that I went out and ordered it immediately, without even looking at what the book was about. I think, sometimes, that’s a good way to dive into a book—without any expectations as to genre or the marketing labels that get attached to stories.
When I started, I was momentarily alarmed to discover it probably fits most comfortably in the crime genre, which isn’t a favourite of mine—I dream very vividly and crime novels tend to give me nightmares. But after a couple of chapters, I realised that calling this book a crime novel would be like calling Pride and Prejudice a romance novel.
We Begin At the End is so much more than a genre label would allow it to be. It's lyrical, it's gritty and it's heartbreaking, and I don't think I've been as emotionally involved in a book for a very long time. While it does start with the now all-too-familiar dead girl trope, it very quickly rises above that.
One of the main characters is a policeman and it is about an investigation into a murder, but it delves most deeply into the effects of that murder on a young girl and her brother. The young girl is one of the most complex, endearing, tragic and valiant characters I’ve ever encountered in a novel. I can't say much more than that as I don't want to give too much of this beautiful story away. But I do want you to read it.
And last week I noticed that Chris Whittaker has a new book out called All the Colours of the Dark and I can't wait to read that one now too.
Two Booker Books
I've just started George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. Regular readers know I love his Story Club Substack and I also enjoyed his non fiction work, A Swim In the Pond In the Rain, which is a bit like a writing masterclass. But I’ve never read any of his fiction before, perhaps because his reputation scared me and also because I’ve occasionally found some Man Book prize winners to be kind of boring. I guess I worried that his novels might be too clever for me, that I wouldn’t understand them; that it would be all literary style and no story.
I’m now about one third of the way through Lincoln in the Bardo and it is unusual to say the least. I was really enjoying it, then I got to a place that felt as if it might be tipping into slight indulgence, but we’ve just got back on track and I’m keen to see how the rest of the tale unfolds.
It’s about the death of Abraham Lincoln’s son during the Civil War and is told through a series of not-quite-alive personages who share the cemetery with Willie. Yes, it’s a bit wild, but stories are meant to be fun!
Another Booker Prize winner (the International Prize, this time) is Kairos, by Jenny Erpenbeck. My daughter bought it to read while we were in Japan and she couldn't put it down. She told me she thought it was perhaps the best book she's ever read, even better than my books! The traitor!
But I thought, if it's that good, I have to read it myself. It's next on my list.
Has anyone read any of these? What did you think? Don’t forget to share your reading recommendations in the comments.
Summer in Japan
I first went to Japan in 1994, which is thirty years ago now. How time flies! After returning from Japan a couple of weeks ago, I have to say that I’m so glad I went there in the nineties, before it was an easy and fashionable place to travel to. It meant that I really experienced the country, rather than just touring through it.
What do I mean by that? Well, this time, Japan was ultra-crowded, much more so even than Europe. I wouldn’t have minded the crowds, but—and I’m aware this might make me sound either old or curmudgeonly—the crowds brought with them an overabundance of poseurs and people who just didn’t care about where they were.
Many of the main sights in Japan are religious: temples, shrines, Zen gardens. They each have a fascinating history, often tied into the local culture. They’re stunning, so of course everybody wants to visit. But is it right to spend the entirety of your visit arranging yourself over and over into an array of different Instagram-perfect poses in front of those sights?
Of course people want to snap a selfie or get someone to take a quick shot of themselves and their family or whoever they’re travelling with. But after that, isn’t the point of being there to turn around and study the temple or shrine, to take time to experience the thing you’ve just photographed?
A Zen garden like the spare and beautiful Ryan-ji is meant to be gazed at. You’re supposed to sit and quietly contemplate, find stillness, go inside yourself for short time. Maybe nothing transcendent happens, and that’s totally fine. But to only go there to get a photograph of yourself in that place so you have proof for your social networks seems so wrong!
I travel a lot. And I’ve always found that most people are interested in at least a bit of the history, the story behind the sight you’ve travelled to discover. There are always people taking selfies and photos, but this was the first time in my life when I really felt that many, many people were there just to get a picture to post on social media. That they had no interest in anything beyond that. And they didn’t care if it was disrespectful to pose and shout and drape themselves in front of the sight because they probably didn’t even know it was a spiritual place!
Yes, I had a mini existential crisis, wondering about the fate of humanity if we continue to consume historically, culturally and spiritually significant places as if they were a fast-fashion T-shirt. Necessary only for a second in time, lacking substance, easily discarded.
And it’s not just me who thinks this! I read this article a couple of months ago and it made me pause. Are we ruining beautiful things, not even by loving them too much, but by wanting to trap them in a photograph that we can show off to our TikTok followers?
If that’s the case, historical fiction is doomed! It’s all about the story, the history, the culture, the narrative behind things, not just the thing itself. But then I watched the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, which was all about history and culture and story and I felt somewhat reassured. And watching the strength and grace of all the competitors, as well as the faces of the spectators, also reminded me that human beings are miraculous and multitudinous and that we will still stop and stare and take a moment to embrace and experience the things that matter.
To finish off this rather longish rant-cum-reflection, here are just a few of the photographs that I did take, I hope respectfully, at some very interesting and lovely places in Japan.
Magnificent Paris!
Speaking of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, I loved it. I thought it was spectacular, dramatic and inventive. The Marie-Antoinette tableau, where the Conciergerie looked to be spouting blood; the graceful silver horse on the Seine; the glorious Eiffel Tower light show; the cheeky figures from the paintings in the Louvre who’d jumped out of their frames to watch the show—it was magnifique!
If you haven’t watched the full replay, I recommend you do. My kids and I curled up on the couch together and watched the whole thing and adored every minute of it. Go Paris!
And Glorious Italy and Gorgeous Fashion …
On the plane to Japan I watched, at my daughter’s urging, the movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Directed by Guy Ritchie and featuring Henry Cavill and Alicia Vikander in the lead roles, the film is aesthetically divine.
The 1960s fashions alone are worth watching the movie for. Henry Cavill is always easy on the eye and he proves to be no exception here! And the location shots in Italy make me want to go back there ASAP!
I was expecting a mundane spy thriller, but what I got was a delectable feast for the eyes. I say we bring back orange and minidresses stat!
Yes, I'm Writing Another Book
It might seem from all the above that I haven’t been doing much work, but I have! I’ve started redrafting my 2026 book after having three weeks away from it to let it develop in my mind. Going back to look at a first draft is a terrifying experience—you never quite know what you’re going to get! Is it as bad as you thought? Or better than you hoped?
Happily, on this occasion, it was the latter. Or at least the first few chapters are! Hopefully I don’t find out, as I move through it, that I started strong and then dwindled!
This is a fun book with some serious underpinnings and I’m really enjoying writing it. But 2026 is a long way away, so I won’t tease you too much with something that’s so far into the future. Instead, I’ll get back to work!
I hope you all have a wonderful week. Please drop me a line in the comments and don’t forget to fill out my survey if you have a moment. Thank you!
I did much of my travelling before Instagram was a thing (though I did go to Japan when I had it), so I wasn't as considered as I might have been with what the perfect photograph should look like. Back then, the photos were only ever going to be posted on Facebook (which wasn't curated or aesthetic in the way that Instagram was), so when everyone started posting really cool photos of their travels on Instagram, I started regretting the way my pictures turned out. They weren't as cool, or styled, or flawless. But reading this post made me realise that at least those quick snaps meant I savoured the destination, and didn't milk it for its currency or social value.
Hello Natasha. I so enjoyed reading your newsletter and could not agree more about tourism throughout the current world. So happy to have seen many sites and experienced places without these overwhelming crowds. The disrespect often becomes unbearable as many miss the holistic experience from visiting these places. I have to say though that one, I think from your 1994 I can lay claim to having had the exact same brown travelling boots 😆 must have been the fashion of the day; and two, at first glance, before I looked at the date, I thought it was of your daughter! My! My! Where have the years gone?