About Talia Castelford
Novelist, author of Marigolds & Moonlight.
Talia Castelford is a novelist. She writes contemporary fiction with a romantic heart: stories rooted in real neighborhoods, full of gardens, family recipes and friends who become family. Marigolds & Moonlight, set in Chicago between a university campus and the streets of Pilsen, is her first novel.
A word from the author
With a degree in accounting and finance, I taught, I counted, I created (life itself, in case you were wondering)… and I gave up my true passion: writing. That’s life, you might say!
Except that one day, I decided to rebel. I gave myself six months to write my first novel. Not one day more, not one day less. But life is a journey, and with me there are always detours. Along the way, Paloma and Owen were born. So Marigolds & Moonlight is the second novel I wrote, but the first one published. The first one comes out in January. Still with me?
To everyone reading these lines: thank you. And to sum up: numbers are nice, but love stories are better. Especially since in mine, you might find the things that make your heart sing, as they do mine: a good meal, a beautiful work of art, something handmade, a little humor, tea, cake. In short, the good things in life.
I hope to meet you one day, who knows, in person. Until then, I’ll see you in my imagination…
Official profiles
For the press
Please spell the name exactly as written: Talia Castelford. The biographies below may be reproduced freely.
Short biography
Talia Castelford is a novelist. She writes contemporary fiction with a romantic heart: stories rooted in real neighborhoods, full of gardens, family recipes and friends who become family. Marigolds & Moonlight, set in Chicago between a university campus and the streets of Pilsen, is her first novel.
Full biography
Talia Castelford is a novelist. With a degree in accounting and finance, she taught and worked with numbers, setting aside her true passion: writing. One day she decided to rebel and gave herself six months to write a first novel. But the road took a few detours, and along the way Paloma and Owen were born: Marigolds & Moonlight, book 1 of the Hearts of Pilsen series, became her first published book, in October 2026.
The novel she wrote first comes out in January: book 1 of An Unexpected Break, the story of Clara and Victor Delcourt. Readers of Marigolds & Moonlight have already met Victor: he is the man so cold that Paloma calls him the Iceman. Hearts of Pilsen grew out of that series, following a band of PhD students in Chicago, between the campus and the streets of Pilsen: friends who become family and take turns holding each other up through life’s storms. Her books are full of the things she loves: a good meal, a beautiful work of art, handmade things, a little humor, tea and cake.
She writes in French and English.