Author Christine Coltman is celebrating the publication of her debut novel, inspired by Victorian fiction and local places such as Grittleton House and Marlborough.

Mrs Coltman, 27, of Clover Dean, Chippenham, studied English literature at Glasgow University and moved to Chippenham four years ago with her husband, Nathan.

Her novel, Isabel Hope, is named after its heroine and is a coming-of-age tale following a young girl hoping for adventure and romance.

Mrs Coltman, who works for a Bath advertising agency, started the novel in 2008 and was written in her spare time, during evenings after work and on long train journeys.

She said: “There was a period of feeling scared and worried if anyone would want to read it. It’s been so lovely to hear from people who have enjoyed it.”

The novel uses extracts from Isabel’s diary and is interspersed with the thoughts of a main editor, police reports and letters.

It contains a town called Ashton, based on Marlborough, and the setting for the final section was inspired by Grittleton House, near Chippenham.

Mrs Coltman said: “I went to a wedding there and I thought, ‘I can see Isabel wandering round here.’

“It fitted really well and I did a bit of reading into things like the hired staff they would have had and made sure my references were correct.”

For information, search for 'isabelhope' on Facebook.