Jessica Mansour-Nahra spent years telling herself she would move to Tasmania one day.
She just did not expect “one day” to come so soon.
The bestselling author moved to Launceston last November, making the tree change she had long imagined for retirement.
“I wish I had moved here so much sooner,” Mansour-Nahra told Pulse.
Born in Newcastle and raised in Brisbane, she has also lived in London, Sydney and central-west New South Wales.
Tasmania had always been on her radar, but after publishing her debut novel The Farm last year, she began questioning why she was waiting.
“I was always had my eye on Tassie ’cause I was like, ‘That’s where I’m gonna go when I’m retired,’” she said.
“What ended up happening was I published The Farm, which was amazing and then I was like, ‘You know, why am I waiting to retire to go to Tassie?’”
She and her husband made a weekend trip to Launceston and Hobart last July to decide where they might settle.
They found a house in Launceston almost immediately.
Then came the slightly less simple part: selling their home, moving interstate, launching a book, going on tour and adopting a puppy.
Ten months into life in Launceston, Mansour-Nahra said she had fallen for the city.
“I love it,” she said.
“Has beautiful food and coffee and still really beautiful, friendly people.”
While she has spent much of her time in Tasmania writing, she has already found an enthusiastic local audience.
She said she had met many of her Launceston friends at the dog park, while staff at independent bookstore Petrarch’s told her people had been coming in saying they had met her around town and had subsequently came in to the shop to buy The Farm.
“So people are actually incredibly supportive,” she said.
Now, just 10 months after moving south, Mansour-Nahra is releasing her second novel.
The Burn was released last week and follows four friends on a road trip after a devastating climate disaster has forced Australia into a five-month lockdown.
The psychological thriller explores friendship, identity, womanhood, climate change and online radicalisation as the characters attempt to reconnect after their lives have been upended.
Mansour-Nahra hopes readers will find the novel as emotionally resonant as The Farm, while also being challenged by its themes.
“I really hope people read it and enjoy it,” she said.
And while she says she cannot imagine living anywhere else in Tasmania, Mansour-Nahra admits her history of moving means she may not stay put forever.
“Ask me again in nine years, I might get itchy feet again,” she said.
The Burn is out today through Hachette Australia.
She will be in conversation with New Town author Rebecca Armitage at Fuller’s Bookshop in Hobart tonight.
