When I was in Sydney last week, I caught up with the wonderful Cheryl Orsini, my co-creator on The Fishmonger and the Pastry Chef–she created the glorious visual world of the book. Cheryl brought along her original artwork for the book, and explained how she creates scenes in layers–it was absolutely fascinating and so stunning! I took heaps of photos–have a look at these.
An absolutely delicious, gorgeous parcel arrived for me yesterday: advance copies of The Fishmonger and the Pastry chef, my forthcoming picture book with the wonderful Cheryl Orsini, which is coming out with Little Hare (Hardie Grant Kids) in late November. I am so very happy with it, it is so very very beautiful! Elements of the story are freely inspired my family history in the beautiful seaside town of Biarritz, but it’s also very much its own thing, and the glorious visual world Cheryl has created is the most perfect place for my words to live in.
It’s also the most gorgeous production, as a physical object, with a textured cover, beautiful satin internal paper that really showcases the illustrations, and great design. Thank you so much to our lovely publisher Chren Byng, editor Johanna Gogos, and all the Hardie Grant Kids team for helping to make this book the most perfect it could be!
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’ve just come back from a month overseas –in France, including Paris, the Pays Basque and Toulouse; in Vienna; and in Spain (in the Spanish Basque country). During that time, I did quite a bit of research for future books and collected photos for my forthcoming novel, In The Paris Fashion, too. As a teaser, here’s a few photos relating to settings, scenes or elements of In The Paris Fashion…
Tissus Reine, Montmartre, Paris
Dam Boutons, Montmartre, Paris
Site of Coco Chanel’s old headquarters, Biarritz
The Carmes Markets, Toulouse
Finally, a few to make you guess!
So excited to be sharing this announcement! My new adult novel, In The Paris Fashion, (written under the name of Sophie Beaumont), will be published by Ultimo Press in November!
Here’s the publisher’s announcement:
Ultimo Press are thrilled to be publishing In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Masson!
It’s a mystery that has passed into fashion legend: the perfect evening gown that was to be created by couture star Elisabeth Fontaine before her tragic death in 1930. Its design, a closely guarded secret, has never been found …
Just like Sophie’s previous novels, (The Paris Cooking School and A Secret Garden in Paris) In the Paris Fashion is utterly compelling, intriguing and romantic and this time it’s set against a background of timeless French fashion. J’adore!
Sophie says: ‘I wanted to tell a great story against the fascinating background of fashion, both contemporary and vintage, and to plunge the reader into a world of intrigue set around the enduring appeal of a legendary lost dress and what it means.’
Publisher, Brigid Mullane, says: ‘Say bonjour to your next escape: In the Paris Fashion is a heartwarming story of friendship, romance and stunning Parisian style – perfect for anyone who’s ever longed for a rendezvous in the City of Light.’
In the Paris Fashion will be published in November 2025 
This is a very special novel whose inspiration is very close to my heart (and my family history). More on that soon, but right now, it’s celebration time!
I was interviewed recently for the fabulous bilingual blog, Matilda Marseillaise, and the interview has now been published, in both French and English (I spoke to Matilda in French and she translated back into English). Centering on The Paris Cooking School and its influences, it also focuses on my background and experiences, the creative process, and Paris itself. Here’s a short extract:
The book has three narratives, you might say, because the book tells the stories of the three main characters. Did you write them in the order we read them? Did you write separating the chapters of each character’s story?
No, I wrote it chronologically. So I knew I wanted to write one chapter from Gaby’s point of view and then one chapter from Sylvie’s point of view, and one chapter from Kate’s point of view.
And then, at the beginning, so in the first chapter, you’re introduced to the 3 characters, they’re in the same chapter, but then they each have a chapter until the end when they all come back together. I always write chronologically. I know there are writers who write a chapter here, a chapter there and then they put it all together. But I can’t.
I can’t because my experience is almost like watching a film and it has to unfold chronologically. I can’t simply make a flash here, a flash there and then put them together to make an image. I have to follow the story and so I say, OK, today I’m going to write the chapter from Gaby’s or Kate’s point of view and that’s it, that’s where it’s going to happen.
Often what I do is, I’ll go for a little 5-minute walk or something. It’s just to start the first paragraph of the chapter I’m going to write that day and then there it is, so Gaby does this, or Kate does that. I even talk to myself about everything. It’s a good thing there aren’t too many people passing by, otherwise they’d think I’d lost my mind!
You can read the whole interview here.
I’m delighted to announce that I’ve created two new pages on this site, which are associated with The Paris Cooking School. They feature recipes, food notes and menus mentioned and described in the book, so that readers can, if they wish, actually reproduce some of those things in their own kitchens! They are written as pages taken from Kate’s notebook, in Kate’s voice, but are real working recipes, tested and cooked in my own kitchen and illustrated with colour photos. And also illustrated with beautiful header images by my lovely friend, talented artist and photographer Lorena Carrington, who has brought the ‘look’ of Kate’s notebook to gorgeous life!
There are two pages: one features lots of recipes and food notes, the other is a simple menu with selected recipes from the main page so you can easily and quickly create a full Paris Cooking School-inspired meal. I hope you enjoy-and if you do cook any of these dishes, I’d love to hear your stories and see your photos, email to me at info@sophiemassonauthor.com
The Paris Cooking School, my new novel for adults, written under the pen-name of Sophie Beaumont, is being published by Ultimo Press on November 1, and to celebrate it, here are three wonderful events coming up, centred around the book!
First up, on Thursday October 26 at 8pm Australian Eastern Daylight Saving time, I’ll be talking about my book, and books generally, with the fantastic writer Suzanne Leal on her popular online Thursday Book Club. The Book Club is held weekly, but once a month Suzanne invites a guest author to talk about what they’ve been writing, and reading, and this month, that’s me! It’s free to listen in, from anywhere, you just need to go to Suzanne’s Book Club page here where you will find the Zoom link to join (just scroll down).
Next, there’s an in person event with a difference in Sydney, 6.30 pm on Wednesday November 8, at the Alliance Française’s NSW headquarters in Clarence St in the Sydney CBD. I’ll be the guest speaker at the November edition of the Alliance’s fabulous Philo Bistro event, which features discussions, in French, with French-language writers, artists, film-makers, musicians, and more, moderated by Sydney-based French novelist Olivier Vojetta. Join us for a fun evening of discussion around my book, French food, Paris, and much more–with the added bonus of a glass of delicious French wine! It’s $10 for Alliance members, $15 for non-members, and you need to book here.
And then, on Saturday November 11 at 2pm, there will be another in person event, in my hometown of Armidale, northern NSW. It’s going to be a launch with a difference too, as it will be held in the Cafe Patisserie, Armidale’s fabulous French-themed cafe which features the most divine and delectable cakes created on site–patisserie that would definitely not be out of place in Paris itself! Some of those creations will feature on the menu for the launch, our lovely local independent booksellers from Reader’s Companion will be on hand to sell the book (you can also pre-order) , and I’ll be on hand to talk and sign! It’s free to attend but it would be useful to RSVP–more details on how to do that soon, but for the moment, do save the date, if you live in the region or might be there at that time!
A lovely surprise arrived yesterday: a box full of my advance copies of The Paris Cooking School. So good to hold it in my hands! It looks absolutely gorgeous, and feels it, too, with lovely embossing on the title with the satiny feel of the cover..can’t stop touching it 🙂
Thank you so much to all the wonderful Ultimo Press team for such a beautiful production–I am so delighted and just can’t wait for it to come out and for readers to hold it in their hands! (Publication date is on November 1).
The arrival of the box also coincided with the first (advance) Goodreads review of the book: and it’s a lovely five-star one, by Marianne Vincent. Thank you so much, Marianne!
Feathers of the Firebird 