How do we find ourselves when we lose others? This striking novel from the author of the widely acclaimed Candy explores the life of a young woman as she deals with the deaths of the two important men in her life: her great love Matthew Smith, and her 'gorgeous, sad father' Tom Airly. A lyrical meditation on love, loss, betrayal, disintegration and the passage of time, Isabelle the Navigator charts Isabelle's inner journey, as well as her actual travels-from childhood in Sydney, to love in the vast spaces off the Western Australian coast, to grief and eventually hope in Paris. This is a portrait of an extraordinarily vital woman that is at once epic and fable, swirling and intensely focused. Candy was a novel about addiction, claustrophobia and a destructive momentum; Isabelle the Navigator bursts forward from this darkness in its exploration of a life more fully lived. What the critics said about Candy 'A love story of profound tenderness ...an important book.' Canberra Times 'A significant novel ...a powerful debut.' Australian 'A superbly written novel by a very talented Australian author.' Age