Both of my novels are now available in paperback from independent publisher Muswell Press, and on Audible.  After its initial success, my debut Paris Mon Amour was reissued to coincide with the release of Scent in April 2021. It was a W H Smith Travel Book of Summer 2017 and featured in many publications including Red magazine.

My new novel Scent takes the reader back to France (at a time when going there is sadly not an option) as perfumer Clémentine experiences the repercussions of an intense same-sex love affair 25 years later. Described by one reviewer as a ‘midlife coming of age’, Scent has had an amazing early reception including coverage in/on Monocle 24 radio, Radio Gorgeous, Chiltern Voice, The Bibilotherapist, Living magazines, GScene, Diva and many great book blogs, with lots more to come.

Please support your independent (or any bricks and mortar) bookseller and consider leaving a reader review of any book you’ve enjoyed – that way there will always be new books and places to buy them!

SCENT – LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 POLARI PRIZE

Every day in Paris carries proof that love exists, in the air, on the streets and behind closed doors.  Just not mine.

When Clémentine and Édouard’s last child leaves home, the cracks in their marriage become impossible to ignore.  Clémentine’s work as an artisan perfumer is no longer rewarding and her sense of self is withering.  Life tilts irreversibly when, decades after the disturbing end of a bisexual love triangle, her former lover Racha resurfaces. But what does she want from Clémentine, if not revenge?

Set in Paris and Provence, this is a captivating and intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires and a troubled past whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.

‘Very, very good.  An intense and unflinching exposé of desire and its legacy‘ Elizabeth Buchan

‘Vividly passionate…reminiscent of masters like
Leïla Slimani. Thrillingly stylish’ Daisy Buchanan

‘Isabel Costello is a writer of enormous intelligence and sensitivity. Scent will resonate with so
many women who feel lost in the middle of life’ Mary Loudon

‘A skilful, transporting narrative that’s as much about perfume, marriage and parenting as it is about sexual identity’ Rowan Pelling

PARIS MON AMOUR

The first time I caused terrible harm to the people I love it was an accident. The second is the reason I’m here.

When Alexandra discovers that her husband Philippe is having an affair, she can’t believe he’d risk losing the love that has transformed both their lives.

Still in shock, Alexandra finds herself powerfully attracted to a much younger man. Jean-Luc Malavoine is twenty-three, intense and magnetic. He’s also the son of Philippe’s best friend.

With every passionate liaison, Alexandra is pulled deeper into a situation that threatens everyone involved.

Paris Mon Amour charts the passion and the price of inescapable desire, obsessive love and devastating betrayals.

‘A truly emotional ride. A story of lust, love and loss with a beautifully described Paris as its backdrop. I galloped through it in a couple of days’ Claire Fuller

‘Told with honesty and insight, Alexandra’s story reflects Paris as it really is: beautiful and romantic, troubled and dark‘ Peter Nichols

‘A sexy slow burn‘ Emma Curtis

‘This is not tourist Paris. Costello captures something ineffable about the city, its habits and attitudes, its interiors, its inscrutable layers’  Reader review