A heist, a hunt and a notorious all-female gang are featured in Kitchener author's new novel

CBC

4 hours ago

Social Sharing
Kitchener author K.D. Straus takes readers on a journey through London, England's high society to familiar nearby southern Ontario cities in her first book, To Be True, of the North of the Avon series.
Set in the 1920s, main character Marion Pallas navigates a heist, a hunt and a notorious gang of female thieves. Along the way she grapples with love, loss and quirky aunts.
Straus joined CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris to talk about the details of her first release and the next steps for the six book series.
Audio of this interview can be found at the bottom of this story. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Craig Norris: Give us a brief overview of the story.
K.D. Straus: Well, how long do I have? I have my novel, To Be True, beginning in London, England in 1924. That's where we first meet Trudeau Tuttle, a Canadian playwright at a posh party being thrown in his honour.
It's there that he is introduced to my story's main character Marion Pallas. They have an instant connection, which Marion has never felt before. She's always been the plain middle sister and had resigned herself to be nothing more. The high society ladies of London say their typical snide comments about Marion, like being less than her sisters and questioning Trudeau's interest in her.
Now, Marion no longer gets mad, she gets even. A revenge heist happens the night of the party and Marion and her ever present pets are behind it. Only this time they have lifted a priceless brooch that begins that brings about an investigation.
At this point, Marion panics and confesses to her devoted and decidedly unconventional Aunt Wink, who is my comedic character and one of my favourites. Once Wink becomes involved in trying to save her niece from the long arms of the law, mayhem ensues.
She pulls in a motley crew of her cohorts, like the 40 Elephants All Girl Gang, and her poor playboy poker buddy to aid Marion. She also knows that a backup plan might be needed, and sadly, it is.
I next have Marian escaping on an ocean liner to Canada with the man she loves. Once there, she struggles with loss of family and her own identity, but eventually moves forward, making Canada her new home, though never forgetting that she's still a fugitive. Suddenly, Wink's standing at her door. And this could only mean one thing: trouble's coming, and it is.
WATCH | Kitchener author K.D. Straus set her new novel, To Be True, in the 1920s:
A heist, a hunt, a gang of female thieves: Kitchener author's new book is a journey through 1920s southern Ontario
4 days ago
Duration 1:38
Kitchener author K.D. Straus set her new novel, To Be True, in the 1920s. It takes the reader from London, England's high society to familiar Canadian cities. This is the first caper in the North of the Avon series. Straus spoke to CBC K-W's Aastha Shetty about the inspiration behind her first book.
Norris: This is the first book in a series. What made you want to write a series? When and how did you decide that it had to be a series?
Straus: My husband is a dreamer and told me that if I want to write, I should just write. So I did. I love historical fiction, I love history. I come from small towns, and they say to write what you know.
Norris: You can say the small town you come from.
Straus: I come from Drayton, Ontario.
Norris: Woo, Drayton! So what's the inspiration behind this story?
Straus: It came about during COVID. As a hair stylist I had nothing to do. They were difficult days, very difficult. So I decided to escape into my own world and create something that was light and funny. I needed to do that for myself.
Norris: It was obviously a conscious choice to make this a female-centric story. Why was that?
Straus: I've been surrounded by fearless and funny women my entire life. So why not, again, write what I know?
Norris: The story takes place in different cities and towns across Ontario, set in the 20s and 30s. How accurate are the depictions of those towns?
Straus: I did a lot of research and my editor checked my research. I say the best friend you can give to a book is a good editor. So it's very accurate.
I have to write about places that I've been to, other than England, which I Googled.
Norris: Each chapter starts with a historical fact. Talk about that a bit. Why did you want to include that? Was it to set us historically and factually in the novel?
Straus: That was important because I wanted people to know the head space that the characters were in and the life they were living, who was in charge, the prime ministers and also it's kind of nice to know who was being born into that time frame. That was important to me.
Norris: Was there anything that you found through your research that kind of surprised you?
Straus: I think it was surprising getting into the 40 Elephants gang and finding out that they are indeed real. I had a client ask me about that the other day and yes, it's absolutely real.
The 40 Elephants came out of the area of Elephant and Castle in England, I believe. I think they just decided that if men could have gangs and be thieves, so could they.
They would rob stores and part of the reason, maybe, they were called the Elephant gang was that they would have clothing with pockets inside. When they left a store they would walk like an elephant because they were so loaded down.
Norris: Your husband Don did the artwork for the novel and the cover of the jacket. What was it like working with him on this?
Straus: It's the best. He is a wonderfully intelligent, talented man who offers up great ideas always. He's read my novel probably more times than he can even count and I'm very lucky to be married to my illustrator.
Norris: This is the first book in the series. What happens now? Where do you go from here? You don't have to give anything away, but how does this work for you now?
Straus: I am slotted in to have the next one edited in September. So we'll get that underway.
Norris: That seems fast.
Straus: I have six written. I started when I was 50.
Norris: So you wrote six books in a year!
Straus: I am 59 so it's a little longer than that, but yeah, I think when you do it, you just need to write.
Norris: Do you have it laid out in your head that you know what the arc is going to be, or is it as you're writing the book you're working on that other things start to reveal themselves?
Straus: Sometimes I surprise myself and of a better way to go. But mostly I think the arc is there.
I certainly have what I call a murder wall. On TV you see where they lay out a murder. So I have sticky notes all over my office so that I can see the flow a little more easily.
Norris: What do you think is the main thing that goes through all of these capers?
Straus: There's always going to be the North of the Avon as the theme. That's the series name. In this book that's the name of the play. The next one is actually taking place in Stratford, North of the Avon. It will be constantly throughout every book.