Washington Independent Review of Books
A riveting tale of courage, love, and betrayal in Crete during WWII…Bookstores are awash in novels depicting the depredations of Nazi occupation in various European countries, but Greece’s travails rarely appear in fiction—the Cretan experience, hardly ever. This makes the wide-ranging and suspenseful The Crimson Thread all the more interesting and oddly timely. The way it highlights the courage and determination of Cretans in fighting the enemy brings to mind the stalwart resolve of Ukrainians bravely doing the same today.”
author of The Perfume Garden Kate Lord Brown
Kate Forsyth’s new novel, The Crimson Thread, weaves myth and history in a dazzling tapestry of love, courage, and war. Set on Crete during WWII with the Palace of Knossos at its heart, Forsyth conjures a labyrinthine tale to rival Ariadne’s. Alenka, a young woman in the Cretan resistance, bravely faces not only the occupying forces but a monstrous half brother and two rival lovers. The tale deftly ties real history and cameos from people like Patrick Leigh Fermor seamlessly into the lives of the fictional characters. Lose yourself in this war story where love is the light which guides you home.”
award-winning author of The Last Rose of Shanghai Weina Dai Randel
The Crimson Thread is a lyrical, majestic work of fiction. Kate Forsyth writes beautifully about the mythic and the romantic, about the minotaur hidden in a maze, about ruins of the palace of Knossos on Crete and the brutal, heartbreaking moments that entrap all. I didn’t want the book to end!”
author of Mademoiselle Chanel C. W. Gortner
A spellbinding tale of resistance and love in WWII Crete. Courage, sacrifice, and betrayal form the backdrop for a Homeric love triangle, where a young woman faces impossible choices in a time of struggle and survival. Forsyth never fails to enchant with her masterful loom, weaving myth and history into her unique tapestries.”
San Francisco Book Review (5 stars)
I was surprised and delighted…I heartily enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.”
Historical Novels Review
A welcome addition to the WWII genre…This story has all the elements of a spy novel, a frontline war novel, and a wartime romance, all wrapped up in the mythology of the Minotaur, Theseus, and, of course, Ariadne…There are many wonderful WWII novels out there, and I would put The Crimson Thread among them. Highly recommended.”
New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond E Kate Quinn
Kate Forsyth’s masterful gift for recasting classic fairy tales in fiction is unmatched! In The Crimson Thread she sets the legend of Ariadne and the minotaur in WWII Greece, where a resourceful Cretan beauty is caught dangerously between a brash Australian soldier, his shy poet best friend, and her own Hitler-obsessed younger brother as her village comes under fire in the brutal German invasion of Crete. Love, jealousy, war, espionage, and myth combine in a tale as complex and beguiling as Ariadne’s labyrinth—I couldn’t put it down!”
USA Today bestselling author of The Next Ship Home Heather Webb
No one spins a tale quite like Kate Forsyth with her musical prose and vivid details that twine together into story threads as timeless as a Greek epic. Family, honor, war, love. It’s all there in her latest novel, The Crimson Thread, set on the wild and beautiful island of Crete—and the horror of the Nazi invasion. The Crimson Thread is a compelling and engaging must-read for fans of WWII fiction!”
