The Girl Who Fled the Picture is my debut novel. The kind of book I love to read. It will take you back in time and to faraway places. The great cities of Istanbul, Rome and Edinburgh are beautiful and steeped in history. If you get the chance to visit you can still see glimpses of the places that Isabella visited, I would recommend them all. 

This is a work of fiction but the history is accurate. Jean-Étienne Liotard fell in love with Constantinople and painted many spectacular Turkish style portraits, catch him in a gallery if you can – his fabrics are incredible. The Jacobite Rebellion is an astonishing story. Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was brought up to believe his father was the rightful king. (He was in terms of legitimate succession.) He set off in secret to make his father proud. The rest is history…

I have travelled the world and lived in many unusual places. I have come to the firm conclusion that people are all the same. We don’t have too many records of strong women and their diverse stories but of course they existed. This novel imagines how such a life might unfold.