The Crimson Thread in Aussie Readers

Feb 23, 2023 Brenda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2022-release, aussie-authors, 3500-2023, historical-fiction, own-read

It was 1941 when German paratroopers began landing on the island of Crete, starting the invasion which remained until the end of the war. Alenka lived with her ten year old brother Axel as well as her mother. During the opening days of the invasion, Alenka saved the lives of two Australian soldiers, good friends Jack and Teddy from the Macedon Ranges in Victoria who had joined the war effort for a bit of a lark. It was far from being that now, and Alenka put herself in danger by hiding the two m ...more

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Feb 11, 2023 Helen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: review-copy-from-publisher

This was my first Kate Forsyth book that I have read and it won’t be the last, she has a beautiful way with words and this really is a beautiful story, set during World War 2 during the German invasion of Crete, we meet Alenka a young woman who does everything she can to help her small country, helping the resistance with the help of a couple of Aussie diggers Teddy and Jack.

1941 and the Germans have arrived on Crete the citizens arm themselves with whatever they have to fight but sadly the Germ ...more

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Jul 04, 2022 Tien rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review, historical-fiction, by-the-month-22, australian-author, own, greece, dragons-spotted-in-the-wild

"whoever fights monsters need to take care they do not become a monster themselves"

The Crimson Thread is one of my highly anticipated 2022 release. Primarily due to Kate Forsyth being a favourite author of mine, starting with her earlier fantasy series and also, I have mostly enjoyed her 'series' of loose fairy tale retellings. Her novels always feature strong and intelligent heroines determined to carve their own places in the world and not where society expects them to.

I love WWII stories so I ...more

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Jul 02, 2022 Bree T rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, historical-fiction, cultural, world-war-ii

A new Kate Forsyth book is always cause to celebrate. I have read almost all of her adult books (I think there are a couple that have escaped me) and they are always rich with history and mythology with wonderful characters and more often than not, very compelling love stories woven in. This one is set a little more in recent times than most of the previous ones I have read, with Kate Forsyth choosing to tell the story of the Nazi invasion of the Greek island of Crete during the Second World War A new Kate Forsyth book is always cause to celebrate. I have read almost all of her adult books (I think there are a couple that have escaped me) and they are always rich with history and mythology with wonderful characters and more often than not, very compelling love stories woven in. This one is set a little more in recent times than most of the previous ones I have read, with Kate Forsyth choosing to tell the story of the Nazi invasion of the Greek island of Crete during the Second World War, which was something that I didn’t know a lot about before reading this book. It has come up a couple of times briefly in other books I’ve read but I think this might be the first book I’ve read that focused pretty much solely on the Nazi occupation of Crete and what that was like both for the locals and also Allied forces who were trying to repel the invasion and then later on, returned to drive the Nazis out.

The story mostly revolves around three main characters: Alenka, a local of Crete who lives near the ruins of a palace in Knossos where the remains of the famous labyrinth remain. In better times Alenka worked as a curator and translator at the Knossos dig. She speaks multiple languages and in 1941, meets separately, two Australian soldiers stationed on Crete, Teddy and Jack. They’re best friends from Victoria although they are very different. Teddy is brash and confident, determined to make Alenka ‘his girl’. Jack is quieter and struggles with a stutter. The three become intertwined – Teddy and Jack are part of the official fight against the Germans but Alenka is part of an underground one, deep in the resistance by the locals against their invaders (and later, occupiers). Alenka has the added complication of the fact that her younger brother is half German and sees the coming invasion as a way for him to connect with them and he’s willing to do anything to ingratiate himself with the soldiers.

I really enjoyed this – I read the majority of it in a single sitting and found that for the most part, I could not put it down. Alenka is a wonderful character and her inner conflict about her brother is showcased really well. I liked the juxtaposition of Teddy and Jack and although I did not particularly like one of the characters, nor their attitude at all, I appreciated the trouble Forsyth took to make their friendship complicated. They are almost lifelong friends, having been friends since they were boys and joined up together and are fighting together. They are very different though and that does become a source of conflict within the story centring around both of them having an attraction to Alenka. All three of them take significant risks and end up in dangerous situations multiple times. Alenka’s role in the resistance was very interesting to read about – a lot of WWII stories showcase small (and large) ways in which local populations resisted the invading forces and their rebellions and wins are heartening. The Germans seemed to definitely underestimate the difficulty of the terrain as well as the tenacity of the locals and towards the end, they are becoming stretched in too many locations, invading too many places. There’s a lot of brutality that German soldiers are known for and some of that is showcased here but not blatantly.

A lot of the book is quite fast paced – the fact that the characters are often in danger or under threat in some way adds to this frantic feeling and it makes for a very quick read as well, as you find yourself wanting to know what is going to happen next. I’d definitely advise reading the Author’s Note at the back of the book as well, which gives some great context to some of the events and inclusions of the story. There’s also a lot that happens that is quite subtle – such as the story of Alenka’s mother and honestly, that could’ve almost been a book on its own! I also haven’t really mentioned the mythological aspect, which tied in so nicely to a lot of the reading I have been doing lately, which gave me a great solid background for a lot of the history included in this book.

This felt just so perfectly researched – reading it, it feels like you’re on Crete, experiencing this with all the locals. A wonderful book.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

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Sep 09, 2023 Rhoda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Thank you to Penguin Australia for sending me a copy of this book to review!

When Crete is invaded by the Germans in 1941, Alenka saves the lives of two young Australian soldiers. Jack and Teddy are childhood friends who could not be more different. Teddy is confident and brash, while Jack is more reserved and thoughtful.

As the soldiers are forced to hide for months from the Nazis, they are aided by the local Cretan people who form their own resistance and fight alongside the soldiers to free th ...more

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