Kate Beaufoy: ‘There is no higher form of pleasure than that afforded by a good book and a room with a view’

What was the first book to make an impression on you?

The Golden Wonder Book, an anthology of stories with an introduction that read: "There are times when young people long to escape. You want adventure, beauty, joy and excitement. We have provided you with with a magic door that you can open at will. That door is the front cover of this book."

What was your favourite book as a child?

Patricia Lynch's The Turf Cutter's Donkey. I have a first edition that belonged to my mother with illustrations by Jack B Yeats, that I used to read to my daughter when she was little. It would be worth a fortune if three generations of children hadn't dog-eared it.

And what is your favourite book or books now?

It has to be the one I’m currently working on.

What is your favourite quotation?

I'm afraid it's neither uplifting nor profound. It's from Waiting for Godot, and it's Estragon's line: "People are bloody ignorant apes." I use it all the time when I'm driving.

Who is your favourite fictional character?

Scarlett O'Hara. Gone with the Wind is my comfort read of choice.

Who is the most under-rated Irish author?

Patricia Avis. Though born in South Africa, she spent most of her adult life in Ireland. Her only novel, a roman à clef called Playing the Harlot, was rejected by the editor at Faber & Faber because he felt it slandered his friends. It was finally published by Virago 20 years after her premature death.

Which do you prefer – ebooks or the traditional print version?

Print. I bought an e-Reader along with a MacBook a week before a cancer diagnosis and have never really come to terms with either of them since. Purely psychological, I guess. Having said that, I am tempted to try the Kindle Paperwhite.

What is the most beautiful book you own?

A leather-boundsketch book that belonged to my grandfather in the 1920s. He was an artist – the model for Teddy Lloyd in Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – and the sketchbook I inherited from him is a key narrative device in my latest novel, Liberty Silk.

Where and how do you write?

I used to work in a windowless attic. I now have a dedicated office, but I very often reach for my laptop first thing in the morning and spend the entire day writing in bed.

What book changed the way you think about fiction?

The way I think about fiction evolves with every novel I read.

What is the most research you have done for a book?

Because it is set in three different eras, Liberty Silk required masses of historical research, as does the novel I am currently working on. But the most physically demanding research I ever undertook (for one of my Kate Thompson titles) was when I scuba-dived a flooded quarry to a depth of 30 metres, in zero visibility, in winter.

What book influenced you the most?

I was lucky that three of my prescribed A-level texts were Alain-Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen's Persuasion. They took me to the next level, which was an MA in French and English literature at Trinity.

What book would you give to a friend’s child on their 18th birthday?

Tove Jansson's A Winter Book. She is more well-known for her Moomintroll series for children, but her writing for adults is exquisite: spare, beautiful and moving.

What book do you wish you had read when you were young?

I wish there had been a writer like Donna Tartt to show young women that it is possible to write with the breathtaking, precocious assurance that was once the prerogative of male authors.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author?

The advice that Deirdre Purcell gave me when I was starting out. Three words: Persist, persist, persist.

What weight do you give reviews?

Paperweight.

Where do you see the publishing industry going?

It’s all doom and gloom right now, but something dazzling always emerges from the miasma, often when you least expect it.

What writing trends have struck you lately?

If a genre is doing particularly well, the shelves become crowded with clones jostling for a place on the charts, resulting in less choice for the consumer. An example is the fallout from EL James. It is becoming increasingly difficult for new voices to be heard. Eimear McBride’s breakthrough is thrilling.

What lessons have you learned about life from reading?

There is no higher form of pleasure than that afforded by a good book and a room with a view.

What has being a writer taught you?

To use the delete button more often.

Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Dorothy Parker, Anita Loos, Joe Mankievicz and Alexander Woolcott. I would not have to say a word.

What is the funniest scene you’ve read?

If I want to laugh out loud, I re-read EF Benson’s Lucia novels. There is a new BBC dramatisation with Miranda Richardson, and I am as breathless with excitement as Georgie Pillson anticipating the arrival of his favourite prima donna in Tilling.

What is your favourite word?

It changes every day. Yesterday’s was lugubrious, today it’s suave.

If you were to write a historical novel, which event or figure would be your subject?

Much of Liberty Silk is set in the 1920s: it features Coco Chanel, Picasso and Zelda Fitzgerald. The novel I'm working on now centres around William Thackeray's visits to Ireland in the 1840s. I saw the potential for a great story when I learned that his wife Isabella threw herself overboard a steamship midway across the Irish Sea on their way to Cork.

Kate Beaufoy has an MA in French and English literature from Trinity College Dublin. As Kate Thompson she has had a dozen novels published, including the number one bestseller The Blue Hour, which was shortlisted for the RNA award. Liberty Silk is her first historical novel. It was inspired by real letters written from Europe by her grandmother, Jessie Beaufoy, in the aftermath of the Great War. A former actress, she was the recipient of a Dublin Theatre Festival Best Actress Award. She lives some of the year in Dublin and some on the west coast of Ireland, and is happily married with one daughter. Kate is an advanced-level scuba diver, a wild swimmer, and the fond keeper of a bewitching Burmese cat. Liberty Silk is published by Tranworld Ireland, priced £6.99