Interview with Kate Forsyth- Author of 'The Crimson Thread'!

Interview with Kate Forsyth

“Dr Kate Forsyth wrote her first novel aged seven & has now sold more than a million books worldwide.  Recently voted one of Australia’s Favourite Novelists, Kate Forsyth has been called ‘one of the finest writers of this generation’. She has written more than 40 books, for all age groups and across many genres, published in 20 countries.

Her most recent book is The Crimson Thread, a reimagining of ‘The Minotaur in the Labyrinth’ myth set in Crete during the Nazi invasion and occupation of World War II.” It was released July 5th, 2022 by Penguin Books AU. (Excerpt from Kate’s website. Visit here.)

Interview with Kate Forsyth

Author of ‘The Crimson Thread’

Novel out now!

Published by Penguin Books Australia

My review of The Crimson Thread

Audio Version of the book.

INTERVIEW

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It is a real honour to have Kate Forsyth as my guest today. I am a huge fan of her novels and I also have enjoyed her writing classes. She is a very talented lady and brilliant author. Enjoy her answers as they are so interesting!

Welcome, Kate!

What was the single seed that took root in your imagination and inspired you to bring The Crimson Thread to fruition? Plus, a short overview of the novel.

When I was a girl, my grandfather told me that my great-uncle had fought in the Battle of Crete – it was a bitter and bloody struggle that lasted for eleven days. By the end of it, the Anzacs were utterly exhausted, and out of food and ammunition. They had to retreat over the towering White Mountains of Crete, chased by the German army and bombed and machine-gunned from the air by the Luftwaffe. My great-uncle managed to survive the desperate retreat, and hid in a cave. The British navy sent a fleet of warships to evacuate the 60,000 soldiers of the Allied forces, but because the Luftwaffe ruled the sky they could only sail at night. It was a desperate rush to reach Crete from Egypt, load up as many men as they could, and then get back to Alexandria before dawn. Many ships were bombed and sank. When the last ship left Crete, there were still 7,000 men left behind. Most of them were taken prisoner, but some managed to escape and were hidden by the people of Crete, despite horrific reprisals from the Nazis. This dramatic story of struggle and heroism and courage really affected me deeply. Many years later, it inspired me to write The Crimson Thread, which tells the story of a young Greek woman who risks her life to save two Australian soldiers and hide them during the long occupation, then finds herself torn between her desire to save her country and her family.

Your novels often draw upon or are a reimagining of a fairy tale appropriate to a location. But The Crimson Thread is set in Crete so you have utilised a Greek myth. Can you share a bit about that and how you used it in your story?  

The day after I heard the story of my great-uncle, I read an old book of Greek myths that had once belonged to my father. It contained the story of how the king of Crete was cursed with a bull-headed son as punishment for his arrogance. The minotaur was locked in a subterranean labyrinth and, every seven years, the king of Athens had to send seven young men and seven young women to be sacrificed to it. The Athenian prince swore to kill the minotaur and free his people from this blood-tax, and so offered himself up as a sacrifice. The Cretan princess Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and gave him a spool of thread to unwind so that he might find his way free of the labyrinth once he had defeated the minotaur. Reading this ancient tale so close to hearing about the Battle of Crete connected the two in my imagination, and gave me a lifelong love of the myths of Greece. The story of Ariadne was always a favourite as it is one of the few that allows a woman an active role. When I began to think about writing a book about the resistance in Greece, I remembered the tale and knew at once that I could do a really interesting reimagining of the minotaur myth in a World War II setting. I do not retell the tale literally – think of it more as a metaphorical interpretation. The minotaur is the hungry beast of war, devouring young lives mercilessly. The struggle to defeat the minotaur is akin to the struggle to defeat Hitler and his war machine. And, eerily, the ancient palace of Knossos in Crete, the birthplace of the minotaur myth, was at the centre of the Cretan resistance movement. It all fitted together so perfectly.

How long did it take to prepare for and write The Crimson Thread? Did you encounter any obstacles? Did you go on any special journeys?

It took me three years to research and write The Crimson Thread. I read every book I could find about Crete and every book I could find on labyrinths and the minotaur. My research process is always deeply immersive, and so I cooked Cretan food, listened to Cretan music, and read the work of Greek poets both ancient and modern. My family and I had a month in Greece, which was so amazing. Everywhere we went in Crete, people would get excited when we said we came from Australia, and tell us heroic stories about Anzac soldiers who fought there. It was really moving. I planned to go back, but sadly was unable to due to Covid. It made my final research much more difficult, but luckily I was able to get the help of some Cretan historians. 

Due to the complexity and magnitude of this project, extensive research would have been inevitable. Name a few resources you found helpful and provide at least two surprising facts you learned from your research?

After I decide to write a novel, the first thing I do is begin to compile my research library. I like to have as many different historical non-fiction books as possible, as all historians have different angles and biases, and so it helps me get a more well-rounded view of events. I also love to read first-hand accounts and memoirs, and I was lucky that so many fine writers were on Crete during the battle and occupation of 1941-1945. British writers Patrick Leigh Fermor, Xan Fielding and William Stanley Moss all wrote memoirs of their time as undercover agents on the island working with the resistance, and so too did George Psychoundakis, a young Cretan who was their runner, carrying messages for many miles over the wild mountainous terrain. Evelyn Waugh was also present at the battle and he wrote a scathing indictment of the bungling of the generals in his novel Sword of Honour.

What Evelyn Waugh did not know is that General Freyberg, the Allied commander on Crete, knew the exact time and place of the planned German invasion thanks to the deciphering of Germany’s Enigma code by crypto-analysts at Bletchley Park. It was the first time the German cipher had ever broken, but secrecy protocols meant that Freyberg could not use his inside knowledge without alerting the enemy. Apparently, when he heard the roar of the approaching German planes he glanced at his watch and said, ‘right on time.’

The Germans came very close to losing the battle, which would have been their first major setback of the war. The Cretan people fought alongside the Allied soldiers, arming themselves with pitchforks and kitchen knives and scythes. Nearly four thousand Nazi paratroopers died in the first three days, the greatest German loss of the war to date. One daredevil Nazi pilot, however, managed to land at a small, damaged airport at Maleme, and flew in reinforcements and supplies to the beleaguered paratroopers. This one crazy act saved the battle for the Germans.

Tell us a little about the island of Crete and its World War II history in relation to The Crimson Thread.

My story begins on Anzac Day, 1941, after Australian & New Zealand troops were evacuated to Crete after the fall of mainland Greece. Two Aussie soldiers both meet and fall for a young Cretan woman named Alenka. She then helps save their lives after the fall of Crete, and hides them from the Germans. The reprisals for anyone helping the Allies are brutal, and Alenka’s danger is intensified by her half-brother Axel who becomes a collaborator and traitor. All three join the resistance and work together to oust the occupying forces, with Teddy and Jack being trained as undercover agents working for the SOE. Alenka, meanwhile, sews them secret messages on her wedding quilt, smuggling out information from the Wehrmacht where she works. Her character is inspired by the true stories of the brave Cretan women of the resistance.

Australian Cover of The Crimson Thread

Alenka is a brave, determined, steadfast woman from Crete who is put in some very trying situations. Please give us a little background on your creation of her.

In my novel, Alenka grows up next-door to the ancient, ruined palace of Knossos and works for the British School of Archaeology at the Villa Ariadne. She is fascinated by the ancient myth of the minotaur in the labyrinth myth, which originated in Knossos. Although she is in many ways a modern young woman, wearing lipstick and listening to blues, she is still very Greek in her attitudes to life, love, and culture. She grows a lot of her family’s food in a small walled garden, and spins and weaves and sews her own clothes. To create her character, I read a lot of books and memoirs of life in Greece during the 1930s and 1940s, did a cooking class in Crete, and learned how to embroider.

Who was your favourite villain to write in The Crimson Thread and why?

Alenka’s younger brother Axel personifies the minotaur in the story. He is half-German and half-Greek, and so belongs nowhere, like the bull-headed boy in the myth. He is filled with hatred and rage, and tries his best to be a good Nazi which means he joins the death squads which terrorised the Cretan people and enacted brutal reprisals upon them. He spies on Alenka, and betrays her with catastrophic consequences. At the beginning of the book, he is only twelve and so that was a challenge for me – creating a child character that grows into a monster.

Tell us a bit about the character Jack. Is he modelled after anyone? Why did you decide to give him a speech impediment? 

I have struggled with a stutter all of my life, and so Jack’s speech dysfluencies were inspired by my own life experiences. I don’t know why I chose to give him a stutter too. At the time I was writing ‘The Crimson Thread’, I was also working on a personal essay about the history of the affliction, and so I suppose it worked its way into my imagination. Also his character was modelled on my grandfather Arthur, who was a crypto-analyst and self-taught musician, and also on my great-uncles Jack Humphrey and Gerry Quirk. Jack Humphrey was described as a shy, quiet, serious young man with brown eyes and olive skin, and Gerry Quirk fought on Crete, and also in Libya and Egypt (he was a Rat of Tobruk). My father’s nickname was Gerry too, and my grandmother once told me that he had also struggled with his speech when he was a boy. So all that family history got distilled into the character of Jack, and his journey to overcome his speech impediment is modelled on my own years of speech therapy.

Was this a hard novel to write? There are many painful and heartbreaking passages. Do you have a special story or experience to share of how you coped or managed through the writing of such difficult topics/scenes?

When I need to write a particularly heartbreaking and harrowing scene, I always try to do so with as much sensitivity and compassion as possible. A lot can be implied, and too much detail can make it seem unreal and melodramatic. I’d rather write too little than too much. I plan it in advance so I know what I need to express and communicate, and then I always take care that I’m looking after myself too. I have hot baths with lavender oil and salts, do yoga once a week, and walk somewhere beautiful every day – writing can be very hard on the body!

What themes or motifs are addressed in The Crimson Thread?

The minotaur represents people’s darkest fears and desires, the monster lurking in the depths of the unconscious. For me war and other acts of unwarranted violence and cruelty are the worst expressions of human nature.

What is the idea behind putting secret codes into embroidery?

One of the earliest known creative responses to the Ariadne myth is by the Roman poet Catallus. His poem tells the story of the marriage of the parents of the Greek hero Achilles, whose wedding quilt is embroidered with the story of Ariadne’s grief and despair after Theseus abandons her. The link between the woman’s art of embroidery and the spool of crimson thread which Ariadne gives Theseus to guide him out of the labyrinth struck me forcibly. I began to research the history of embroidery and Cretan textile crafts, and discovered the story of a British officer named Major Alexis Casdagli who was forced to surrender at the Battle of Crete and spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp. After his death, his daughter found her father’s war box in the attic. It contained a secret diary written on scraps of paper, and a hand-embroidered sampler which contained the message ‘Fuck Hitler’ sewn in Morse code. This story inspired me with the idea of sewing messages in secret code. I had to learn how to embroider to write ‘The Crimson Thread’, and now sew nearly every day. I am making my own quilt in which I tell the story of my life in images and and motifs that have meaning to me.

What role does music play in The Crimson Thread? Are you also a lover of music, and if so, what inspired this interest?

Music is a strong leitmotif that runs through the whole book. Jack’s mother was a cellist, and died when he was born. He plays the cello in her memory, and has a particular love of Johann Sebastian Bach whose music is very mathematical. Jack saves Alenka’s life by playing the first of the cello preludes on a Cretan lyra, thus convincing a German soldier that he is Greek. Jack’s musicality was inspired by my grandfather, who was an amazing self-taught musician who played double bass in a jazz band after the war. When I was a little girl, Granps used to play to me all the time – I remember him playing the first prelude and ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ and ‘Do-Re-Mi’, both on the double bass and the electric organ. I’ve always wished I had inherited his talent. I have a playlist of music that I listened to obsessively while writing ‘The Crimson Thread’ – it is mainly Bach, played on cello and Cretan lyra, but there is also Eric Satie’s ‘Gnossiennes’ which I became obsessed with too. I only discovered much later that Satie had become obsessed with the myth of Ariadne and the minotaur after reading about the palace of Knossos, and the name of this music was coined from the ancient Cretan ruin. That seemed eerie and serendipitous!

You can listen to my playlist here on spotify. 

There are various literature references in The Crimson Thread. If you had to pick one favourite, which would it be and why?

The two central literary allusions in the book are ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett which was one of my favourite childhood books, and the poems of the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho, which I began to read when I was travelling in Greece with my family. I love them both!

Poetry plays a beautiful part in The Crimson Thread. Please explain why you chose this artistic medium. Are you a lover of poetry and when did this love affair begin?

One of my speech therapists suggested I read poetry out loud every night to my mother, as when I sing or recite something rhythmical, I stutter a lot less. I think that really gave me my love of poetry. I’ve been writing it ever since I was a kid, and like to read a poem a day. I often choose a poet to study, and read as much as I can about their lives as well as their work. Sappho was my poet of choice while writing ‘The Crimson Thread’, Rainer Marie Rilke while writing ‘The Beast’s Garden’, and Novalis for ‘The Wild Girl’, for example.

You have written many wonderful books and covered a number of genres and age groups. Readers can visit your website here to learn more about your books and activities but please share at least one favourite publishing accomplishment from your career?

Winning the American Library Association award for my novel ‘Bitter Greens’ was a wonderful moment!

What is your favourite season and how does it affect your writing?

My favourite season is spring, symbol of rebirth and resurrection. ‘The Crimson Thread’ ends in Bright Week, the Greek celebration of Easter, which was also the week that the Germans signed their surrender in the Villa Ariadne at Knossos

What other artistic skills do you have besides writing?

I love to garden and cook, and I began learning how to paint when writing ‘Beauty in Thorns’ which is a biographical novel inspired by the lives of the women of the Pre-Raphaelite circle of artists and writers. As I said earlier, I also began to embroider while writing ‘The Crimson Thread’ and am now working on a memory quilt.

Are you working on a new project? If so, are you able to share a little of what it is?

I am in the early stages of a new novel called ‘Psykhe’ which reimagines the myth of ‘Eros and Psyche’, set in ancient Rome.

Thanks so much Kate for being my guest today! We are so happy for you and the release of ‘The Crimson Thread’ which occurred on July 5th, 2022. I am sure it will be a huge success.

 Thanks, too, to Kate and Penguin Books Australia for a review copy of The Crimson Thread and for the photos shared on this page.

The Overseas Cover of the Novel