Isabelle Broom takes readers to The French Guesthouse

Submitted: 17th December 2025

The French Guesthouse

My latest novel, The French Guesthouse, opens in dramatic style, with Fliss standing outside the London hotel she runs with her fiancé, Charlie, watching flames tear through everything they have built. As the business goes up in smoke, so does the relationship holding it together. The next day, she learns that her estranged mother has died. Fliss hasn’t seen her in 15 years – not since a tragedy shattered her 18th birthday – but the news still knocks the wind out of her.

The French Guesthouse Isabelle Broom

As you approach Libourne…

Summoned to a crumbling guesthouse in the French town of Libourne for the reading of the will, Fliss finds two strangers waiting: her mother’s devastated partner, Etienne, and his enigmatic nephew, Benoit. She also learns that she’s inherited half the house. As the renovation begins, long-buried secrets surface. And as Fliss pieces together the truth, she must decide whether she can forgive the past and finally let herself heal.

(c) Coffee in Place Abel Surchamp Isabelle Broom

Situated in southwestern France, Libourne sits on the confluence of the Isle and Dordogne rivers. (Fun fact: my working title for this novel, Where Rivers Run Together, was inspired by these waterways). With its sandstone buildings, cobbled squares, Neo-Gothic architecture and lush surrounding landscape, the town is abundant in both beauty and charm. As Fliss observes: “Each dwelling had some unique feature that marked it out as different to the rest, be it an arched entranceway, old-style lanterns fixed to outside walls, or the trailing tendrils of a climbing plant.” With Benoit leading the way, she’s quickly drawn into Libourne’s most memorable spots – some unexpected, all unforgettable.

Town Hall

The town square, Place Abel Surchamp, is almost its own character. Fliss spots the “striking town hall complete with turrets and gargoyles” when she heads there in search of a café au lait.

Later, when she returns on market day, Fliss is astounded by all the fresh produce on offer – especially the white asparagus. Benoit, who is a chef, tells her it “needs delicate handling”, which may or may not be a narrative cue…

Imagine the market here…

The shock of discovering she’s inherited a share of the guesthouse really knocks Fliss for six. In a bid to cheer her up, Benoit takes her for a stroll along the river to Ferme La Barbanne, a small community farm housing peacocks, goats, chickens, donkeys and “a flock of geese, all of which hurried over to greet us, waddling on their flat feet”. The trip unlocks something in Fliss. For the first time since arriving in France, she starts to wonder if things could change for the better.

Ferme La Barbanne

One meal out that Fliss and Benoit share is at L’Embarcadère, the same waterside eatery I found myself at during a research trip to Libourne. When I was there, it was Aperol Spritzes at sunset, although teetotal Fliss opts for a Diet Coke to wash down her burrata salad. Those who enjoy the occasional pun might find that they Brie-ly enjoy this scene in the novel.

L’Embarcadère

“Man-made, but man, they made it well”, Lac des Dagueys is Libourne’s fishing, boating and bathing lake, situated on the outskirts of town. As the scaffolding Fliss can ill-afford goes up all over the guesthouse, she and Benoit head down to the shoreline for a picnic – though it’s a date that is destined to be rudely interrupted…

Lac des Dagueys

There is a good reason why Fliss avoids alcohol, but she does find herself persuaded into Quai 1, a quirky bar situated not far from one of Libourne’s many bridges. Benoit’s friend Adélard – a sexually liberated carpenter and owner of the world’s most pampered Italian greyhound – beckons the two of them inside. When I was there in the spring of 2024, the sun was shining and the terrace bustling with life. I remember turning to my friend, fellow writer Cathy Bramley, and saying: “I knew there was going to be something special about this place.”

I hope that when you read it, you’ll find yourself falling a little bit in love with Libourne – just as I did.