Author Interview: Natasha Lester

Our Beauty and Lace Club members will be reading the latest book by Natasha Lester — If I Should Lose You.

While you wait for the reviews, get to know the author in this interview:

Tell us about your book “If I Should Lose You”

It’s about nurse Camille, whose specialist role as a donor coordinator, talking to grieving families and caring for their loved ones, is emotionally gruelling. Camille also has a sick daughter of her own and a marriage that’s falling apart under the strain.

When she’s asked to curate an exhibition of her sculptor father’s work, she agrees, thinking it will be a welcome distraction from the stresses of her life. But the more she delves into her father’s body of work, the more she starts to discover about the sudden death of her mother.

At the same time, her daughter’s condition deteriorates and Camille is left with a quandary: does she really want to know what happened to her mother and should she use her own knowledge of the medical system to save her daughter, even if it means taking away someone else’s chance to live?

Which of your characters do you most relate to and why?

I related most strongly to Camille when I was writing this book. At the time, my daughter had a genetic hip condition, which I also share. This caused her to spend a lot of time in the hospital over the first two years of her life, constantly having surgeries and wearing full-body plaster casts for months on end.

So Camille’s struggles to care for a sick child and to also be present for a second child who needs a mother’s love and attention, and to keep both her career and her marriage alive at the same time were very familiar to me. 

How do you celebrate when you finish your book?

I start writing another book! I also try to take the time, when I’m on a book tour, to catch up with all my other author friends around Australia and have a celebratory lunch or glass of champagne.

What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused? 

A cup of tea, a carafe of water and my phone locked in a drawer where it won’t distract me!

How much time do you spend researching for your books, and what sort of things do you need to research?

For this one, I interviewed a female heart transplant surgeon, which was one of the most interesting things I’ve ever done in my life and I’m hugely grateful to her for making the time to talk to me.

I also spoke to DonateLife in NSW, who gave me lots of information about the specialised nursing role of donor coordination. And I had to read about sculpting, because the only thing I’ve ever sculpted was a clay vase in primary school!

What are you currently reading?

Shankari Chandran’s Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens. It is magnificent.

What is your favourite part of publishing?

Finishing a book! And hearing from readers who’ve really bonded with the stories I’m telling.

Where can our readers follow you?

I’m on Facebook and Instagram as @natashalesterauthor, on Substack with a publication called Bijoux and have a website at natashalester.com