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‘I thought, this is a good idea: a character who is in one of those glossy shops and has lots of people coming to her. It’s a very womanly, bonding thing: shopping together, getting dressed up, making the most of yourself.’

Lead character Annie is an upbeat London fashionista with a sideline in internet trading. And while she may be able to find the perfect handbag, it’s not so easy making her own love match.

Writing the book allowed Carmen to windowshop a more fashion-conscious lifestyle, but she’s not about to give her wardrobe a complete overhaul.

‘I’m a very jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. I think that was the fun of the writing for me. Every day I would be in department store heaven. It was a beautiful fantasy world.

‘It would be very nice to have some lovely things in the wardrobe, but I wouldn’t like to be the kind of person who couldn’t spill my tea or cuddle the dog, because that’s just not really me.’

A very youthful mum to Sam (9) and Claudie (5), Carmen and husband Thomas are only just recovering from the move into their ‘doer-upper’ just off Queen Margaret Drive.

The couple met while studying journalism at Napier in Edinburgh and married while working in London, before returning to Scotland when Sam was a toddler.

Carmen began writing full-time shortly after Sam’s birth and published her first book in 2002.

The couple chose to move to Glasgow because the thought of swapping London for life in the country was too much for Carmen to bear.

Raised on a farm, the self-professed urbanite was one of three daughters: ‘A big disappointment to a farming family, obviously!’ she laughs.

‘I wasn’t really that interested in farm life – I’m really phobic of large animals.’
‘I used to pick strawberries and raspberries, but books were my thing.’

A love of books is something that she’s passed on to her two children, who are big fans of Lemony Snickett and Roald Dahl.

Carmen has already begun work on the sequel to The Personal Shopper, in which Annie and her family depart for Italy, and she’s also writing two books for older children based ‘very loosely’ on her experiences at St George’s all girls’ school in Edinburgh.

All going well, is there the possibility of a lucrative television adaptation?
‘That would be very nice,’ says Carmen.

‘I personally think that The Personal Shopper would be a nice one to do for TV. It’s the most retail fun you can have without spending any money!’