Authors Interviewing Characters: Kathryn Crawley

Walking on Fire is a loss-of-innocence, coming-of-age love story set in Greece in 1974, following the fall of the seven-year Greek dictatorship. Kate is dropped into a boiling cauldron of anti-Americanism as she has been hired as a speech pathologist in a center for Greek cerebral palsied children. She falls in love with the Greek culture and with Thanasis, a charismatic Greek communist student, whose betrayal leads to dangerous political intrigue. She must choose whether to remain in Greece with her lover or return home to America and safety. 

“Fans of self-discovery will relish Kate’s foreign adventure and find her attempts to settle into a local rhythm entertaining, as she tries to find the balance between defending her home and being open to the political injustice the trip brings to light. As she falls in love with the language, culture, and food surrounding her, she also begins to fall for a local man who’s immersed in the country’s politics—forcing her to sift her loyalties while revealing parts of herself she never knew existed. Torn between the man she loves and the familiarity of home, Kate faces an impossible decision when her time in Greece runs out, and her growing pains during the process will be relatable for anyone who’s navigated the ups and downs of their early 20s.” 

       BookLife  by Publisher’s Weekly

Kathryn Crawley interviews Kate, her protagonist from the novel Walking on Fire in a coffee shop in Boston, where Kate has been living since returning to the US in 1975.

Kathryn: Kate, it’s been twenty-five years since you left Greece. Lots to catch up on.

Kate:  Hard to believe. I was just a pup when I lived in Thessaloniki, “skylaki” as they say. See, I haven’t forgotten my Greek after all these years. 

Kathryn:  Tell me, Kate, besides the language, I wonder what else haven’t you forgotten.

[A shadow passes over her face. I’d forgotten how well I knew her when she was twenty-five, newly arrived in Greece. And how I watched her grow and transform in the year she lived in Thessaloniki. I’ve missed her . . .}

Kate:  What haven’t I forgotten?  My friends—but of course I keep in touch with phone calls when the “pnevma” or “spirit” moves me. Like when there’s a song or a fragrance or a taste that sends me immediately back there. I visited a few years ago—couldn’t believe how much the city had changed. And how much we all had aged. In the book you had me say, “Time is a magician.” Unfortunately, not enough of a magician to keep us as young as we were back then!

Kathryn:  Yes—don’t we all wish? Of course, you know I want to ask about Thanasis. At the end of the novel, you said you had lost contact. Is that still the case?

[She takes a deep breath. Her smile is now forced.] 

Kate:  Sort of. Several years ago, on an Easter morning when I’d made a trail of clues for my daughter to follow to find hidden plastic eggs filled with candies, the bedroom phone rang. I was surprised by the accented English. Greek. I knew immediately. I can always tell that particular accent. More than any words, though, it was the voice that struck deeply. I knew it was him. I don’t remember how he said he’d found my number. And, to be truthful, I don’t remember much about the call, only that my legs weakened and I sat on the top step of the stairway and laced my fingers through the phone cord. He told me he’d married and had one daughter, like me, and had moved back to his village. Unlike me, though, he was still married. We cast about for what to say, but—this is funny—even the silence between us was comforting. Not awkward. At the bottom of the stairway my daughter was hopping from foot to foot, giving me the “Mooomm. . . .” signal. Finally, after we ended the call, I kept the handset close to my ear, not wanting to let go. I had to push myself to stand up. Push myself back into a life that didn’t include him. Push myself back into an American life.

[Kate keeps her eyes down as she turns her coffee cup on the circle of the saucer. I can’t help but remember the scene in the airport coffee shop, when Thanasis convinces Kate to remain in Greece despite his recent betrayal of her and the possible political danger if she stays.]

Kathryn:  It sounds like you may not haven’t gotten over him—after all of these years. Do you ever question your decision to return to the US? I don’t think I ever fully deciphered all of what actually caused you to leave.

Kate:  At the time, I was afraid to stay. It was scary being on the radar of the Greek Security Police because of my connection to Thanasis and his Communist friends, and remember—those were the days of left-wing revenge after the fall of the junta and the 17th of November group’s bombings and assassinations. But there was also something else. I’d gone with my friend Georyia to the theater to see a Greek production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” An American play but in Greek. In those days my conversational Greek was pretty good, but the language of the theater was impenetrable. I had an epiphany—another Greek word meaning “an appearance”—that I couldn’t grow intellectually like I could back in my homeland, in my own culture and language environment. I guess you could say I decided in favor of my mind over my heart.

Kathyn: Do you mind if I ask whether your heart has had other opportunities? After Thanasis?

[Kate is, perhaps, buying time as she swirls her coffee and takes a final sip.]

Kate: Do you remember what my Greek friend Lena would say? That the heart is the most curious part of ourselves and will be so until we close our eyes for the final time? I would say that my heart has grown new capacities and feels like it is full. I have been blessed with other lovers and other kinds of romantic love. But it’s not been the same. What I now know about Thanasis I learn from friends in snatches of rumors from friends. He has apparently aged well and continues to be a “fine looking man.” That’s what I hear. But. . . he exists behind a door that is closed. Perhaps it’s better that way.

Sorry, Kathryn, but I’ve got to go. 

[We rise at the same time and exchange kisses on our cheeks—Greek style. She turns. And disappears.]

—

WALKING ON FIRE

Greece. Politics. Love. Danger. Reeling from a failed marriage and spurred on by a burgeoning sense of feminism, twenty-five-year-old Kate accepts a position as a speech therapist in a center for children with cerebral palsy in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is 1974, and the recent end of Greece’s seven-year dictatorship has ignited a fiery anti-American sentiment within the country. Despite this, as her Greek improves, Kate teaches communication to severely disabled children, creates profound friendships, and finds a home in the ancient and historied city. From a dramatic Christmas pig slaughter to a mesmerizing fire walking ceremony, her world expands rapidly—even more so when she falls in love with Thanasis, a handsome Communist.

Through Thanasis, Kate meets people determined to turn a spotlight on their former dictators’ massacre of university students, as well as their record of widespread censorship and torture of dissidents. The more she learns, the more her loyalty to her country and almost everything she was taught in her conservative home state of Texas is challenged. Kate is transformed by her odyssey, but when her very safety is threatened by the politics of her lover, she must choose: risk everything to stay with Thanasis and the Greece that has captured her heart, or remove herself from harm’s way by returning to her homeland?

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Kathryn Crawley was born of pioneer stock and raised in a small West Texas cotton town. She received undergraduate and graduate degrees in speech pathology from Baylor University. Unforeseen events and an adventurous spirit led her to Casper, WY, Colorado Springs, CO, and Thessaloniki, Greece, where she worked in a center for Greek children with cerebral palsy from 1974 to 1976. She went on to establish roots in Boston, where she continued her career as a speech pathologist. Today, she enjoys life with her partner, Tom, daughter, Emilia, and two dogs in Belmont, MA.

 

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers