Absolutely delighted to reveal the totally gorgeous cover of my forthcoming Sophie Beaumont novel, In The Paris Fashion! The beautiful illustrations on the cover are by the wonderful Cheryl Orsini, while the elegant cover design is by Christabella Designs. The book, published by Ultimo Press, will be out on October 28. Can’t wait!
I am absolutely thrilled to reveal the gorgeous cover of my upcoming picture book with the fantastic Cheryl Orsini, The Fishmonger and the Pastry Chef. This lovely picture book, set in ‘a beautiful seaside town full of beautiful places’, around a young boy called Lucas and two of his favourite people, his aunt Violette, a pastry chef, and his friend Cyprien, a fishmonger, is partly inspired by aspects of my family history in the beautiful seaside town of Biarritz…
It was such a joy to write this story and such a delight to see its visual world come to such charming, lively, delicious and endearing life in Cheryl’s gorgeous illustrations, and I can’t wait to see it come out into the world!
The Fishmonger and the Pastry Chef will be published by Hardie Grant Kids in their Little Hare imprint in November.
I am thrilled to announce that my middle-grade historical novel, Bold Ben Hall, will be published by Walker Books Australia in March 2025. It’s an action-packed story set in the Central West of NSW, in the days of the bushranger Ben Hall and I just loved writing it!
It will be the launch title for Walker’s new Our History series. Just look at the gorgeous cover!
Here’s something about the story:
It is October 1863 and the theatre company twelve-year old Lily Jordan’s parents are part of is on its way to Forbes for a run of Macbeth. But Lily’s French-born mother Adelaide has fallen ill and the family have had to stop in Canowindra–just as famous bushranger Ben Hall and his gang arrive. The gang hold everyone in town hostage– but instead of robbing people, they hold a strange, giant three day party, and Lily is enthralled. She writes a secret play ‘Bold Ben Hall’ and dreams of sending it to a famous theatre company in Sydney or Melbourne…
Meanwhile, in Forbes, fourteen year old stable boy Sam Turner greatly admires Sir Frederick Pottinger, Ben Hall’s nemesis. And he dreams of helping Sir Fred to catch Ben Hall…
When Lily and Sam meet, the two are soon at loggerheads about their heroes, determined to prove the other wrong…and to try any means to do so!
Closer to the publication date, I’ll post about the background research I did for the book–part of which took me to the fascinating historical towns of Canowindra, Forbes, Eugowra, Carcoar, Bathurst and the beautiful Central Western countryside, in an absolutely fantastic trip.
Exciting! The Paris Cooking School will be coming out in Germany next year, in May, published by Droemer Knaur . It’s got a new title–Zweite Chancen à la Carte (Second Chances à la Carte), with the subheading of Die kleine Kochschule in Paris (The little cooking school in Paris) and a new cover. And here that cover is, looking gorgeous!
I’m thrilled to reveal the enticingly sweet cover of the Ukrainian edition of The Paris Cooking School, which is coming out with Knygolove Publishers in Ukraine in August. I hope that Ukrainian readers love reading it as much as I loved writing it!
I am thrilled to reveal the gorgeous cover of A Secret Garden in Paris, my second novel under the name of Sophie Beaumont, which will be out in October with Ultimo Press. Isn’t it just absolutely beautiful!
Here’s the blurb:
Springtime in Paris … the perfect time to turn over a new leaf
In the heart of a city blooming with flowers, three women face life-changing challenges. Driven by grief over the sudden death of her mother Corinne, Sydneysider Emma Taylor has taken refuge with her Parisian grandmother, Mattie, in her house with its secret garden. Determined to unlock the mysteries of Corinne’s past, Emma’s only clue is an enigmatic photograph.
Celebrated garden designer Charlotte Marigny believed she had a happy marriage, until her husband Tom inexplicably started to withdraw from her. Needing time to think about the future, she has fled their home in London for her native Paris.
Meanwhile, widowed Parisian florist Arielle Lunel had finally managed to get her life together, after her husband’s death and the discovery of his crippling debts three years earlier changed everything for her and their young twins. Now, her world is again turned upside down when her controlling parents-in-law arrive with a disturbing proposal…
Drawn together by loss and the romantic gardens of Paris, the paths of the three women begin to intersect as they develop an unexpected friendship that will transform their lives.
From the author of The Paris Cooking School comes a captivating story of loss and love, romance and revelations – and the pleasures of a secret Paris garden.
You can pre-order the book here.
Absolutely thrilling–my publisher has just revealed the gorgeous cover of my forthcoming adult novel The Paris Cooking School, written under my pen-name of Sophie Beaumont, and to be published by Ultimo Press in November. Isn’t it beautiful–and how about that perfect strawberry tart!
(Really love the way the book is described too: sumptuous, romantic, escapist. And delectable!)
Here’s the blurb:
There’s nothing quite so beautiful as Paris in the spring; and when you add in the chance to learn the French way of food, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, who can resist? Not Gabi Picabea or Kate Evans who have come from Australia to Sylvie Morel’s Paris Cooking School.
Both are at a crossroads, and learning to cook the French way in Paris, far away from all their troubles, seems like the perfect escape.
Still bruised from a shocking betrayal by her ex-husband, Kate is trying to find a new place for herself in life, and emotional peace, while French-Australian artist Gabi is struggling with a crippling creative block.
Meanwhile, Sylvie herself is facing challenges of her own – a mysterious harassment campaign against the School and a reassessment of her relationship with her commitment-shy lover Claude.
For each of the women, that extraordinary April in Paris will bring unexpected twists and transformations that will change the course of their lives.
A delectable novel about love, hope and the consolations of the perfect strawberry tart, The Paris Cooking School is a treat for the soul.
The Paris Cooking School will publish in November 2023. Pre-order from your local bookshop, or online, or via the Ultimo website, here.
I’m delighted to reveal the gorgeous cover of Four Up In Lights, the third and final in the fun little chapter-book series I’ve created with the wonderful illustrator Cheryl Orsini. The series, which has been very popular with young readers, is about the funny, fast-paced adventures of four friends who just happen to be vintage vehicles–two cars, a motorbike and a tractor–and I’ve really loved writing it, and loved, too, collaborating with Cheryl, who has made our four friends come to such lively, characterful and endearing life! Four Up In Lights will be released in September by Christmas Press, and is a sequel to Four On The Run(2020) and Four All At Sea (2021).
Isn’t the cover just beautiful! And below the cover you can also see the books as a set–they look pretty good together, don’t they!
I am delighted to reveal the fabulous cover of Cock-A-Doodle-Doo, my forthcoming picture book with Kathy Creamer, to be published by Little Pink Dog Books in June 2022. Isn’t it fantastic!
Here’s the blurb of the book:
Richie the rooster loved waking up the farm each morning. He loved it so much that he began to crow earlier and earlier. Again and again! Stop, everyone cried. But Richie wouldn’t stop. Until one day…
A hilarious story about how sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, by the acclaimed author and illustrator team who also created See Monkey and Join the Armidale Parade.
This was a story that was such fun to write, and pure joy to see the wonderfully riotous, colourful and characterful visual world Kathy has created for the noisy but endearing rooster Richie, his long-suffering friends on the farm–and the sneaky intruder with the red coat 🙂 I think readers are going to have a lot of fun with it, too. Can’t wait till it comes out!
Find out more and pre-order the book at the Little Pink Dog Books website, here.
I am excited to reveal the absolutely stunning cover of my forthcoming historical novel for middle-grade readers, Sydney Under Attack, which is set in late May and early June 1942, at the time of the Japanese midget submarine attacks in Sydney Harbour.
The book will be published in March 2022 by Scholastic Australia, it was edited by Clare Hallifax, and the cover was designed by Chad Mitchell. Isn’t it striking!
Here’s the blurb of the book:
In 1942, 12-year-old Nick lives in Rose Bay, Sydney, with his mum, dad and sister, and dreams of becoming a writer like his dad. But with the world at war, Nick is constantly on alert for anything that seems out of the ordinary and then late one night he sees it! A plane! But no-one believes him! Then, the unimaginable happens. Sydney is attacked! And Nick starts noticing people behaving strangely. Is it just his imagination or something more sinister?
I hope readers will much enjoy this novel, which is as much a mystery and spy story as it is historical novel and war story. Nick was a great character to write–he is so lively, energetic, and imaginative, even if he does sometimes gets hold of the wrong end of the stick 🙂 And it was a fascinating book to research, too–trawling through documents, archival films and photos, and Sydney newspapers of the time (thank you, Trove!)
The book is part of Scholastic’s Australia’s Second World War series–it’s the third one, in fact. And I wrote the first in that series, too, War and Resistance, which was published in 2019. Sydney Under Attack also has a link not only to War and Resistance, but to another novel of mine, 1914, published in 2014, which was part of another series Scholastic published, Australia’s Great War. The three novels are linked through one French-Australian family, the Jullians, who appear in different roles in each of the three books, as main characters in the first two, across two generations, and as important but not main characters in the the third. It has been absolutely amazing to have been able to do that and keep the link through the three books!
Feathers of the Firebird 