Kathryn Gauci on Life, Memory and Writing

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When our video call clicked into life, Kathryn Gauci, her face framed by the soft light of a nearby window, wore a small smile full of warmth and patience. As if she had all the time in the world. She spoke as someone accustomed to the slow rhythm of life, noticing the subtleties and nuances that often go overlooked. Even through the virtual space between us, her calm energy felt like an embrace, enveloping me in a cocoon of comfort and ease. 

Kathryn is a critically acclaimed international, bestselling, author who produces strong, colourful, characters and riveting storylines. She is the recipient of numerous major international awards for her works of historical fiction.

Kathryn was born in Leicestershire, England, and studied textile design at Loughborough College of Art and later at Kidderminster College of Art and Design where she specialised in carpet design and technology. After graduating, she spent a year in Vienna, Austria, before moving to Greece to work as a carpet designer in Athens for six years. There followed another brief period in New Zealand before eventually settling in Melbourne, Australia.

Before turning to writing full-time, Kathryn ran her own textile design studio in Melbourne for over fifteen years, work which she enjoyed tremendously as it allowed her the luxury of travelling worldwide, often taking her off the beaten track and exploring other cultures. 

Her first novel was The Embroiderer, born from those years and memories of Greece and the richness to be found there. She never intended for it to be the start of a new career but so it was. Her novels now take readers to Greece and Turkey, Vienna and Istanbul, and recently France.

“Travel changes what stories stick with you. I carried many of them for years before I wrote them down.”

A Life Before Writing

Looking back on her early years, Kathryn speaks slowly, thoughtfully. She grew up in Leicestershire, surrounded by art, curiosity, and a quiet sense that objects had their own stories. Art school sharpened this instinct. She studied patterns and motifs from different cultures, noticing how design moved across borders through trade, craft, and migration.

Her year in Vienna was her first taste of life outside the familiar. She remembers wandering through galleries, markets, streets, seeing history in real, tangible ways.

Then came Athens. Those years were formative, though not dramatic. She speaks of the city with fondness, noting how history lives alongside daily life. Working as a carpet designer honed her sense of cultural layers; the techniques, colours, and symbols shaped by centuries of movement. These early experiences laid a foundation for her writing long before she imagined writing fiction.

In Melbourne, she built a studio and travelled regularly. Textile traditions were often at the heart of communities she visited. She recalls meeting craftspeople whose families had worked in the same ways for generations. Their stories, their memory of making, stayed with her.

“Design taught me to notice how people express themselves. Writing felt like a natural next step.”

The Shift Toward Fiction

Her move into writing was gradual. While in Melbourne, she began exploring the histories of Greece and Asia Minor. She read memoirs, letters, photographs, archival material—sometimes retracing paths she had walked years earlier, in memory. She read accounts of people who survived destruction, felt pulled into the experiences of those displaced by political upheaval.

She started writing small scenes to make sense of what she had learned. One scene lasted long enough to become the opening of The Embroiderer. She had no strict plan, letting the research guide her. It required patience. She kept going until the work stood on its own.

The novel found its audience quickly. It showed her as a writer comfortable with history, confident enough to let facts speak for themselves. Her time in Greece had left a deeper mark than she knew.

“I wrote that first scene just to see where it might go. And it kept going until it felt whole.”

Research as a Grounding Force

Research is central to every book Kathryn writes. Sometimes she spends months with primary sources before drafting a single chapter. Diaries, letters, testimonies, maps, photographs—they all help her rebuild neighbourhoods and homes as they once were.

Her approach isn’t academic for its own sake. She respects the lives she studies. She notices small details: how meals were prepared, how clothing was worn, how homes were arranged. These little things give her characters a real sense of life.

When writing about Greece and Turkey, she revisits memories of the places she once knew. For The Secret of the Grand Hôtel du Lac, she studied wartime hotels in France, noting how architecture and daily routines recorded traces of past lives. A hotel felt like the right setting for a story shaped by movement, secrecy, and the rhythm of life under occupation.

Her attention to context allows characters to arise naturally, rather than being forced onto the historical canvas.

“Every book starts the same way. I need to understand the world before I can understand the people who lived in it.”

Writing Across Cultures

Her novels stretch across Greece, Turkey, Vienna, Istanbul, and France, reflecting both travel and research. She focuses on people navigating upheaval, showing how history shapes private decisions—small to outsiders, but heavy for those living them.

Readers often mention the clarity of her storytelling. Emotional development unfolds deliberately. Characters emerge gradually, like patterns in a textile. Her books explore heritage, displacement, and identity without theatrics. Each story builds slowly from observation and accumulated detail.

Her design background informs her writing. She learned to balance structure with intuition, a skill she carries into fiction. Research underpins emotional depth, letting characters inhabit history fully.

A Life Built Around Work and Reflection

Observation remains central to her life. Watching, listening, gathering impressions—these shaped her design work and now her fiction.

Her writing routine is steady but flexible. She reads widely, writes in small sections, and revises often, shaping each passage to reflect the truth of her characters.

Historical fiction can be emotionally taxing. Kathryn knows when to step back. She understands clarity often comes from pacing. She treats accounts of suffering carefully, presenting lives as lived realities, not symbols.

“The people whose stories I researched were real. Their experiences matter. That’s enough to guide me.”

The Reach of Her Books

Her novels have found readers worldwide. Many share family histories, recognising echoes of their own ancestors. She listens attentively, aware of the trust behind every story.

International recognition reflects universal themes: heritage, resilience, identity. Grounded storytelling lets readers connect personally with past events, even when they have no direct link to the places she writes about.

Her recent books continue this careful approach. Every project begins with research and observation. She lets the story emerge naturally before sharing details publicly, following threads until the structure forms.

Looking Ahead

As our conversation closes, she mentions her current project briefly, keeping specifics private. Early research must settle before the narrative appears. This patience mirrors the philosophy that guided her career shift years ago: stories need room to form.

From textile designer to internationally recognised author, Kathryn Gauci’s journey reflects lifelong observation, cultural engagement, and curiosity about human experience. Whether examining embroidered textiles, hotel corridors, or memories of displaced families, she focuses on the people behind history.

Kathryn writes with care, purpose, and responsibility. Her novels preserve stories that deserve attention, giving readers a way to connect with history through characters shaped by truth, research, and understanding.

Watch the full interview here.