Canadian novelist Jane Urquhart had barely arrived in Dublin before she left - to continue on a whistlestop tour promoting her new novel, The Underpainter, that will see her doing 30 readings in four countries before Christmas. Fairly standard procedure, but unusual for Urquhart, who is used to spending more time in Ireland.
Born into a family that left Ireland for Canada during the Famine (her mother's family were Quinns from Co. Down), the sense of Irishness she grew up with was "hysterical", she says. Many of her relations had never seen their mother country and Jane only rived in 1990, while researching her novel Away. That book, which was shortlisted for the first IMPAC international literary award, has a strongly Irish theme and is partly set in this country. "I think I really wanted to explore what happens when a place becomes imaginary. Countries and nationalities can be completely re-invented, often with tragic consequences."
The consequences for her were not in the least tragic. She found herself fascinated with this country, not only because she could work well here but also because of the stunning landscape.
"Like many people, I come from a country where you can no longer rely on a lasting landscape. Many of us who grew up in rural areas have seen that disappear very quickly in our lifetime. It was such a relief to be in a country where that is not happening - or at least, not yet."
Last year she spent time at Cill Rialaig in Co Kerry with her husband, visual artist Tony Urquhart. "For the first time I discovered that my husband and I are able to work in the same space - I don't know that we'll ever do it again, but it's good to know." They decided to buy a small cottage in the wilds of Kerry as Tony retires from teaching at art college next year.
Urquhart will return to the more solitary occupation of writing come January. At the moment, ideas are "floating around at the back of my mind ready to be developed on plane journeys", but she is pretty sure the subject will be the first World War, a period that is woven through The Underpainter. "Once you've encountered the first World War, it's hard to walk away."
The Underpainter by Jane Urquhart (Bloomsbury £14.99 in UK)