Book club webchat with Victoria Hislop Wednesday 4 July 1-2pm

getmehrt

Hi Victoria,

I was intrigued by why you referred to the city as Thessaloniki throughout when presumably it was called Salonika for some of the period you were writing about? I was in Greece not so long ago and I am sure I heard some people referring to it as Salonika.

Whatever, you captured its essence, I suspect!

Hello - Both tend to be used - the Greeks mostly used "Thessaloniki" - so I followed their lead. Hope that's not confusing! The French (many of them used to live there) would generally used "Salonique", but I think Thessaloniki would probably be the most used these days.

Greendorrie

I would like to thank you for my copy of The Thread, which arrived Friday morning. The timing was perfect as 'The Football' started Friday afternoon!
I have only managed to read the first chapter but I am hooked. I can see that a combination of my book and my knitting are going to get me through a very trying time this month.
Love to you all at Gransnet.

Thank you! The only match I watched was Greece - Germany - as it was more than just about the "football" - it was about politics too. I hope you enjoy. You will discover that all the women in the novel survive through weaving and sewing, so knitting will be a very appropriate activity in between chapters! Victoria

sneetch

I wanted to ask why you have a modern character at the beginnings and ends of your novels? In The Thread it meant we always knew that Dmitri and Katarina married in the end. Wouldn't there have been more suspense if we hadn't known? - I loved the book, but I wondered if it would have been more exciting not to know?

Quite a few people have commented on this! And to be honest, there would have been more suspense - but I very much wanted to tell the story through their eyes, and therefore was obliged to reveal that they were still alive. Storytelling through the voice of a "grandparent" seems very natural to me - the stories told by people who were born in the early part of the 20th century seem very precious to me. And I always encourage younger people to sit their grandparents down and ask them to describe their early lives. My experience is that people in their 80's are very modest about what they have lived through - and to listen to their stories is the most fascinating way to learn history. Grandparents are a very precious "resource".

Annobel

I enjoyed your novel, Victoria and think it's your best so far. I have also read Louis de Bernières' 'Birds without Wings' which is set in Turkey at the same time, when the Greek population was expelled. Were you at all influenced by his writing?

Thanks so much! I absolutely love Louis de Berniere's books - I have met him a few times too and we have a lot to talk about - he thinks, by the way, that Birds without Wings is his best novel and so do I (I always recommend this one to people). I am not influenced by him particularly as I think his style of writing is very different from mine (I think, more complex, more literary) but we definitely share a real passion for Greece. For people reading this, Birds without Wings is set around a village in Turkey - highly recommended.

effblinder

Hi Victoria,

What as it about Greece that made you want to write about it so much? I think the history is amazing. You definitely captured something very special about it in the book, I think.

I find Greece very inspiring generally. And the 20th century history is so full of drama - fire, earthquake, occupation, civil war, dictatorship - and of course the tragic story of what happened to almost the entire Jewish population - for a novelist, trying to imagine how it "felt" to be in such situations, Greece is never short of inspiration. It is an extraordinary country - as are its people - and it won't be the last book that I write about it. Thanks for your comment too.

c2556

loved The Thread read it in two days makes you want to there

Hello - that's great - do, do go! Thessaloniki is an amazing city and Greece needs us to visit at the moment. So I hope you will be tempted!

scribblegranny

Hi Victoria, great that you're coming onto Gransnet today. Did you always know you wanted to be a novelist?

Hello - no, it came very late to me. The last piece of creative writing I did before writing my first novel was my English Language o'level - so that was a gap of 30 years... it took the inspiration of going to Spinalonga to make me want to write a novel..

merlotgran

Hi Victoria - Aristotle Onassis, as well as being a very rich and successful businessman, liked his trophy wives and mistresses. He was quoted as saying, ‘All Greek men beat their women, no question.’ Did you base some of your character, Konsantinos Komninos on Onnassis and have you always had a passion for textiles and the history of fashion?

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merlotgran

Hi Victoria - Aristotle Onassis, as well as being a very rich and successful businessman, liked his trophy wives and mistresses. He was quoted as saying, ‘All Greek men beat their women, no question.’ Did you base some of your character, Konsantinos Komninos on Onnassis and have you always had a passion for textiles and the history of fashion?

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