Please provide an overview of The Paris Affair and what inspired you to write it?
The Paris Affair is a dual-timeline novel set between 1940s Paris and Germany in 2002. A young pianist, Julia, discovers an old book of recipes and uses it to recapture her old music mentor Christoph’s fading memories of the war and the woman he loved and lost. Each recipe revives a recollection from the past and brings Christoph and Julia closer to the truth of what happened when Sylvie disappeared all those years ago.
I was inspired to write The Paris Affair after discovering an old recipe book in the attic of my husband’s childhood home in Germany. Like Julia in The Paris Affair, cooking isn’t my strong point, but I was fascinated by the link between taste and memory. I wanted to write a story about long-lost love and the importance of never giving up.
It is a dual timeline novel with a WWII historical thread and a more modern day one. What advantages did this give you in telling your story? I love writing dual timelines because having two stories and two sets of couples, whose lives and emotions are interconnected, creates a rich tapestry from which to draw inspiration. I always write the two timelines alongside each other, flowing from one story to the other naturally, rather than splicing them together afterwards. An object from the past, which in The Paris Affair is Sylvie’s old recipe book, provides an essential touchstone that links everything together.
Describe characters Sylvie, Julia, Daniel and Christoph in three words each.
The characters have so many traits it is hard to pin them down, so here are three words that depict how they change and develop as The Paris Affair progresses:
Sylvie: courageous, bewildered, determined
Julia: overwhelmed, compassionate, hopeful
Daniel: conflicted, in awe, inspired
Christoph: ashamed, brave, steadfast
Your novel covers the passion and highs and lows of being a concert pianist. Why did you choose this type of artistic expression? Do you play piano or another instrument?
I love music even though I’ve not had lessons for years. At secondary school, I learned to play the treble recorder to Grade 5, and the piano to Grade 2. We’ve always had a piano in the house and I love sitting down and playing the few tunes I know from a well-worn book of classic pieces. I also took Music as one of my GCSEs and remember loving composition tasks. Minor appearances in school concerts gave me an inkling of the terror Julia felt on stage at Wigmore Hall. Music, like writing, relies on hard work and practice and I can definitely empathise with Julia’s creative struggles.
Your novel clearly shows how emotional upheaval can affect a person’s creativity. Would you like to comment further on this in relation to Julia?
Julia is an upcoming, successful pianist, but in many ways, this success has been something that her late mother wanted for her, instead of Julia wanting it for herself. We meet Julia a year after her mother has died when she is in the middle of a European tour. Julia has not yet accepted the emotional repercussions of her mother’s loss and can't understand how this might be connected to the problems she is having with her hands. When Julia discovers Sylvie’s recipe book, Christoph suggests that using her creativity for something different (cooking rather than playing the piano) might help her to heal, both physically and mentally.
What was the most difficult passage in the historical thread to write and why?
There are several challenging moments in The Paris Affair but the most difficult parts to write were those that related to the persecution and murder of Jews by the Nazis in the Second World War. It was hard to put into words the moment when Christoph strays close to the Velodrome d’Hiver (or Vel d’Hiv) and hears the harrowing sounds of the 7,000 Jews who were incarcerated inside before being transported to transit camps outside Paris. Whilst The Paris Affair focuses on specific moments during a few months in 1942, the backdrop of the Second World War and the tragic devastation it brought to so many people were always at the back of my mind.
Music and food are covered equally in your novel. Cooking is described by one of your characters as an ‘act of love’. What does that mean and how does it make Julia think about her playing of the piano?
At the start of The Paris Affair, Julia finds cooking a chore because it interrupts precious time spent playing or practicing the piano. She is very dedicated, almost to the point of obsession, and fears that if she takes a break from playing, her life will collapse. As Julia cooks Sylvie’s recipes for Christoph, however, it helps her reflect on her underlying motivation for playing the piano and realise that she needs to rediscover her love of music.
We know that food can evoke powerful memories. And Chef Sylvie’s wonderful ‘book of recipes’ is central to your novel. How do you use this nostalgia concept with Christoph?
I think we’ve all experienced those moments when tastes and smells carry us back to the past. For me, it’s Fish Chowder in Johnnie Fox's after a long hike in the Dublin Mountains, Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake) under the silver birches in my father-in-law's garden and my mum's chicken casserole on a Sunday nights after a country walk.
Christoph’s time in occupied Paris was very intense and marked by key moments with Sylvie that centred around food. When Julia finds Sylvie’s recipe book and cooks the dishes, she and Christoph hope it will transport him back to that time, so that he can remember what happened and heal the scars of the past.
This is such a beautiful and tragic love story between Sylvie and Christoph. Who in literature would you most compare them to?
That’s a really interesting question but I’m afraid I have to say that I’ve no idea! I didn’t have anyone in mind as I wrote the novel, but looking back, I suppose it would have to be any literary couple who fall in love but are on opposite sides of the divide.
Please share your journey to publication. Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Becoming a writer has been a long-held dream of mine. I started out writing poetry at the age of twelve and still enjoy reading and writing it. After I’d finished an M.Phil. in Creative Writing at Trinity College in Dublin in 2000 (where I was lucky enough to study with the Irish poet, Brendan Kennelly), I began my first novel. It never got published, but it did enable me to meet the wonderful Rebecca Ritchie at A.M. Heath Literary Agency, who supported me as I wrote my second book. The Girl from Amsterdam was published in Germany, which was very exciting. My third novel was a joy to write but sadly didn’t find a home. I wasn’t sure if I had the time and strength to keep going with another novel, but then I had the idea for The Paris Affair. The characters and the story compelled me to keep writing. I am so glad that I did.
Explain your writing style. Are you a plotter, pantser or a combination of both?
I’m a plotter who leaves room for spontaneity and sudden bursts of inspiration. I start with three words that encompass the novel and use them to write a 1-line synopsis. This starting point enables me to start researching and planning characters. Once I’ve got enough information, I write a detailed 10-page outline. Then it’s more research about the past and thinking about the characters, before I start writing the novel. After the raw first draft is finished, I read it with an editorial eye, make notes, and then dive back in. An outline keeps me sane and gives me the confidence to make unexpected changes when inspiration strikes.
Where is your favourite place in all the world to visit and soak up the atmosphere?
Cities are particularly evocative because past and present jostle together, often in surprising, disturbing, and juxtaposing ways. I’ve loved staying in Paris, Florence, Bonn, London, Antwerp and Amsterdam and would like to visit more European cities. There is so much history to take in stretching back centuries and with each visit, I discover something new.
What four novels have you read this year that you’d highly recommend and why?
I’ve been reading mostly non-fiction this year as research for my second book. However, it has been wonderful to break off and dive into some fantastic novels. So far in 2024, I’ve enjoyed:
· The Austrian Bride by Helen Parusel – a fascinating account of one woman’s bravery in the terrifying atmosphere of Austria after the Anschluss in 1938.
· The London Bookshop Affair by Louise Fein - a masterclass in memorable characters, outstanding research, and highwire tension.
· The Lost Memories by Lorna Cook – a wonderfully evocative love story that spans the centuries and is full of warmth.
· The Mystery of Haverford House by Rachel Burton – an intriguing dual time that raised lots of questions and kept me turning the pages to discover the answers.
If you were having a dinner party in honour of three special author guests (from the past or present) who would they be? What meal would you serve them and what music would you play? Plus, what question would you ask each one?
I could ponder forever on this question but if I had to pin it down, I would invite:
· Elena Ferrante - it would be one way to solve the mystery of her identity. I would ask her how she writes prose that sears the soul and how she has learned to look so clearly into the workings of the human heart.
· Irène Némirovsky - a Jewish novelist who lived in France during the Second World War and was tragically murdered in Auschwitz. Her unfinished trilogy, Suite Francais, is a heartbreaking account of French occupation, and I would ask her how she found the courage and strength to write it in such difficult circumstances.
· Cormac McCarthy – I will never forget reading All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing for the first time. I’d love to ask him about his writing process and how he got from a first draft to the elemental, rhythmic prose of his novels. I’d also love to know more about what he was studying at the Santa Fe Institute in the last years of his life.
I’ve no idea what they all like to eat, so I would serve food that I enjoy: leek and potato soup, grilled salmon, green beans, and sauteed potatoes, followed by poached pears and cream. Playing in the background, I'd have Cat Power's album, The Greatest as we sipped our wine and talked late into the night.
Are you working on a new novel now and, if so, can you share a bit about it?
I’ve handed in the first draft of my second novel (when I say first draft, it was the tenth first draft by the time I was happy with it!) and any day now edits are due to land from my editor, Hannah Smith. I can’t give too much away, but it’s another dual timeline set during the Second World War and the modern day. The three words that inspired it were: Venice, perfume, and the Orient Express, and it will be out in the summer of 2025.
Thanks so much Fiona for being my guest today. I believe your novel will touch hearts across the world as much as it moved mine!
About the author:
Fiona is writer of dual timeline novels. From Cambridge to Bologna, Antwerp to Amsterdam, Paris to Bonn, she writes about star-crossed lovers whose journeys span the war-torn decades of the last century and echo in the present day. Her debut novel, THE PARIS AFFAIR, comes out on 4th July 2024.
