Natasha Poliszczuk

1 week ago | natashap.substack.com | Natasha Poliszczuk

May - you were glorious. Sunshine on the hedgerows, wisteria, cow parsley-thronged lanes, sunshine, the satisfaction of work, writing, a birthday trip to Jane Austen’s House, meals in the garden at every opportunity, sea swims, and re-reading Mary Wesley on the beach. And an extra joyous bonus - over 6000 subscribers on Substack! I am delighted and frankly rather bowled over by this - thank you, thank you. You have made my month.

1 week ago | natashap.substack.com | Natasha Poliszczuk

I say this about almost every month (aside from February, which has little to redeem it), but I think May is my favourite. Everything is green and fresh, the sun when it shines has actual warmth, the blossom has skittered from the trees and everything is bursting forth into bloom. In the countryside (where I am now), the narrow lanes are thronged with a tangle of cow parsley and foxgloves.

2 weeks ago | natashap.substack.com | Natasha Poliszczuk

Summer is coming (*averts eyes from the current weather*): lazy days in the garden, deckchairs, holidays - and books. And The Treasures, the new novel from the pen of a.k.a. The Lady Novelist, is a dream summer book. It’s Harriet’s (counts on fingers) seventeenth novel, and - to my mind at least - the novel she was destined to write.

3 weeks ago | publishersweekly.com | Natasha Poliszczuk

After a career that spanned working as a literary agent, book publisher, market researcher, and journalist, Jo Henry has officially stepped down as managing director of the U.K. publishing newsletter BookBrunch, a role she has held since 2018. “Although much has changed in the way we do things, and the techniques we use, the essence of the industry has stayed exactly the same: getting books into the hands of readers,” said Henry, in a statement.

3 weeks ago | natashap.substack.com | Natasha Poliszczuk

I am asked this at least once a week and it’s one of those ‘how long is a piece of string’ style questions. See also: what’s the best book you’ve read recently? In answer to which I always, always, without fail….go completely blank. I met Cesca Major (who was lovely) at a book launch last Wednesday, and she asked me this and I gaped like a particularly clueless goldfish. I must start keeping a list on my phone which I can whip out on such occasions.