Leave a comment Posted on announcements, children's fiction, Cover reveals, forthcoming books

Bold Ben Hall coming in March!

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.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Cover reveals, forthcoming books, Paris Cooking School, Publishers

Cover reveal of the German edition of The Paris Cooking School!

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!

Leave a comment Posted on A Secret Garden in Paris, adult fiction, Audio books

Audio edition of A Secret Garden in Paris now available

The audio edition of A Secret Garden in Paris, produced by Wavesound and narrated by actor, writer, and translator Jayne Tuttle, is now available for purchasing and listening on your favourite audio platform. Jayne’s Australian but has lived and worked in Paris and her understanding of the city and its people really adds that special touch. It’s such a thrill to listen to the novel unfolding through her seamless, sensitive, warm narration!

Narrator Jayne Tuttle
Leave a comment Posted on A Secret Garden in Paris, adult fiction, articles, gardens, New books

Ten secret gardens in Paris no guidebook will tell you about…

That’s the title of a little piece I wrote with tips about ten ‘secret gardens’ in Paris you can visit, which are unlikely to be found in guidebooks–or at least aren’t so well-known! It was published online, on the 9Travel site, and you can read it all here.

Here’s the list–without my descriptions and comments, all of which you can find in the published article linked above, but I’ve added here links where you can find out more about each:

Les Rosiers/Joseph Migneret: https://www.afrenchcollection.com/small-secret-garden-in-the-marais-paris/

La Roseraie des Arquebusiers: https://parisjetaime.com/eng/culture/square-saint-gilles-grand-veneur-pauline-roland-p907

Jardin du Port de l’Arsenal: https://www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/en/paris-vert/jardin-du-port-de-larsenal

Clos des Blancs Manteaux: https://www.timeout.com/paris/en/things-to-do/attractions/clos-des-blancs-manteaux

Jardin des Arts/Albert Schweitzer: https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/what-to-visit-in-paris/walks/articles/221347-the-jardin-des-arts-albert-schweitzer-a-green-setting-in-the-heart-of-paris

Le Square du Temple:   https://www.travelfranceonline.com/square-du-temple-quartier-du-temple/

Parc de Belleville:   https://www.parisinsidersguide.com/parc-de-belleville-paris.html

Garden of the Theatre of the Rond-Point des Champs Élysées: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_du_Rond-Point

La Coulée Verte /La Promenade Plantée: .https://www.thebluewalk.com/walk-on-the-coulee-verte-and-promenade-plantee/

Le Parc de Bagatelle: https://www.french-gardens.com/gardens/bagatelle.php

The article on the 9travel website is illustrated with stock images which 9travel themselves sourced, but I also have photos myself of the gardens I mention. Most of them I took, but a few (all of the Clos des Blancs Manteaux, all of the Coulee Verte, the autumn shot of Albert Schweitzer garden and the black and white pic of the Port de l’Arsenal) are by my Paris-based brother in law Bruno Jan, who is a fabulous photographer. Here’s a gathering of some of them, for your enjoyment!

First block shows, from left to right: Les Rosiers/Joseph Migneret; Roseraie des Arquebusiers; Jardin du Port de l’Arsenal

Second block, from left to right: Albert Schweitzer 2 pics–in spring and autumn; Clos des Blancs Manteaux (2 pics)

Third block, from left to right: Square du Temple (2 pics): Parc de Belleville.

Fourth block (all pics): Coulee Verte

Fifth block, left to right: Parc de Bagatelle(2 pics: Jardin du Rond Point

Leave a comment Posted on A Secret Garden in Paris, adult fiction, New books, Reviews

A fabulous gathering of reviews on Good Reading…

There’s a fabulous gathering of wonderful reviews of A Secret Garden in Paris, from readers who participated in Better Reading’s Preview opportunity, which meant they could read advance copies of the book. I am just so thrilled and touched by the warmth with which so many people have responded to my novel–thank you all so much! Many thanks to Better Reading and Ultimo Press for making it possible.

You can read all the reviews here.

Leave a comment Posted on A Secret Garden in Paris, adult fiction, cakes, Celebrations, launches

Lovely local launch!

Such a wonderful local launch of the book yesterday, in the very congenial atmosphere of Cafe Patisserie Armidale! Lovely engaged crowd, lots of books sold by Reader’s Companion, delicious petits fours, flowers, chilled wine, great atmosphere, a bright sunny day–all the ingredients for a fantastic event which launched my book in the most enjoyable way!

Many thanks to Enora, Nathan and all the staff at Cafe Patisserie, to Michelle at Reader’s Companion, and to all the lovely people who came to celebrate with me!

Leave a comment Posted on A Secret Garden in Paris, adult fiction, announcements, Book talk, Celebrations, New books, Publication day

Publication day for A Secret Garden in Paris!

It’s time to celebrate–today, A Secret Garden in Paris, my new novel for adults under the name of Sophie Beaumont, is officially released! I am so thrilled that it’s out in the world now, and hopefully will soon land in the hands of many, many readers. So many of you wonderful readers took my previous novel, The Paris Cooking School, to their hearts, and I hope you will also love A Secret Garden in Paris. I am delighted that already there have been some wonderful advance reviews of the book, you can read them here.

Writing this novel took me on an extraordinary journey, as I followed my characters Emma, Charlotte and Arielle through the winding paths of their lives in Paris, against a background of that glorious green and flowery world that’s such an integral part of the charm of the city. Over the years I’ve visited most of the places my characters went to, but I discovered quite a few more in the process of researching and writing the novel, as well as some fascinating facts and anecdotes about Paris gardens, a few of which found their way into the book. (By the way, I’ll soon be publishing a couple of pages on this blog, about the locations in the book and also on my favourite flowers–watch this space!)

I’d like to acknowledge the many people who have helped make this book such a lovely reality: many thanks to my wonderful agent, Margaret Connolly, for her encouragement, suggestions and support; to all the fantastic Ultimo Press team, for their dedicated, thoughtful and inspired commitment to making this book the very best it could be; and to Cheryl Orsini for the gorgeous peony and fabulous map. Special thanks to my husband David, gardener extraordinaire, for advice on plants and the restoration of overgrown gardens, and to my Paris-based sister Gabrielle and brother-in-law Bruno whose intimate knowledge of the city’s gardens helped to greatly expand my repertoire. And to all my beautiful family in Australia, France and the UK, I am so very grateful for your loving support and encouragement, as always.

And now I’m off to celebrate!