Tell us about your new novel, At the Villa Celeste

The Villa Celeste is a lovely house in the made-up town of Ste-Agathe on the French Riviera. Between the two World Wars, it houses a clinic for people troubled in mind or who have TB. Florence, one of my main characters, is a patient there, and Clementine – the other main character, who lives in the present day – visits there also. The novel is set in Paris, New York and the Cote d’Azur.

Were you influenced by other literature about TB and sanatoriums?

Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain influenced me. That novel takes place entirely in a sanatorium, where the atmosphere is intensely charged, and the characters create their own eccentric society. I was influenced also by the life of Katherine Mansfield, who died of “consumption” at George Gurdjieff’s spiritual centre near Paris. My character Florence March is modelled slightly on Mansfield.

At the Villa Celeste is about desire. Could you explain?

The novel concerns two women who struggle with anorexia. They are searching desperately for their true selves, and they fear their desires. But both women discover passion and purpose, and begin to realise that their real selves lie in the very things they feared.

What did you learn from writing At the Villa Celeste?

I learned about Europe between the World Wars. It was a time of exhaustion and sickness, but also hope. Veterans were shell-shocked, families were consulting “spiritualists” to commune with their war dead, and lots of people sought help from mystics and philosophers. I learned about Varian Fry, a real-life war hero who appears in my book. I also learned more about downtown New York in the 1980s and 1990s, where Clementine lives after leaving her wealthy husband.

What inspires you to write?

I think there must be a sense of urgency, a need to write. At the Villa Celeste was inspired partly by the colours and savours of the Cote d’Azur, but also by the experience of suffering and grace, and the mystery – a mainly feminine mystery, though not always – of eating disorders.

Which writers do you love most?

I love the stories of James Joyce, William Trevor, Katherine Mansfield and Chekhov. I cherish certain mid- to late-20th-century British novelists such as Margaret Drabble and Doris Lessing, for their style and intelligence. I adore contemporary Irish fiction: Christine Dwyer Hickey, Claire Keegan and Deirdre Madden, among others.

Your late husband was the poet John Montague. How has your relationship with him influenced your own work?

In At the Villa Celeste, Florence marries a much older man. Through this I explored what it means to love and be loved so deeply that age ceases to matter. John also influenced my practice of work. Work mattered more than anything to him. He asked not only me, but everyone he met, “How is your work going? What are you working on?” He himself worked tirelessly, even in the pub or at a restaurant table.

I still describe my day to my husband John Montague 10 years after his death

Your previous novel, Sustenance, was about a restaurant critic. And now you have written a novel where the main characters are afraid of food. Why?

In both novels, food is ceremonial. Lily, in Sustenance, loves the formality of restaurants, and in this new book, both Florence and Clementine perform eating rituals.

Tell us about your debut, Sleight of Hand

Sleight of Hand centres on a Spanish Baroque painting that depicts the myth of Echo and Narcissus. Is this painting genuine or a counterfeit? Claire Browne, a young art historian who falls in love with a famous painter, tries to find out.

Which projects are you working on?

I’ve been writing short stories. My first collection of stories will be published next year by Mercier Press. Its working title is When New Gods Arrive.

Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?

Yes. Such places can be numinous, such as Wordsworth’s home among the lakes.

What is the best writing advice you have heard?

The first line of Moby Dick is “Call me Ishmael”. It’s vital to understand that it isn’t Ishmael who is speaking, nor is it the author. It’s the narrator. A novelist must create a voice to tell the story. That voice is the ether in which the story is suspended.

Who do you admire the most?

Dogs, because they are full of love.

You are supreme ruler for a day. What law do you pass or abolish?

I pass a law that dogs are allowed into all pubs, restaurants and cinemas.

Which current book, film or podcast would you recommend?

Land by Maggie O’Farrell.

Which public event affected you most?

The election of Donald Trump. He had been just a thuggish real estate mogul until, suddenly, he was US president.

The most remarkable place you have visited?

Poland.

Your most treasured possession?

Memories.

What is the most beautiful book that you own?

An illustrated Rough Field published by Maeght Editions.

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

Shakespeare, Siri Hustvedt, Henry James and Katherine Mansfield.

The best and worst things about where you live?

The luminous skies; the summer heat.

What is your favourite quotation?

“In the prison of his days / Teach the free man how to praise.”

Who is your favourite fictional character?

Little Kezia from Mansfield’s stories.

A book to make me laugh?

The Third Policeman.

A book that might move me to tears?

The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien.

At the Villa Celeste by Elizabeth Wassell Montague is published by Vanguard Press