A heist, a hunt and a notorious all-female gang are featured in
Kitchener author's new novel
CBC News | Posted: June 8, 2025 10:00 AM | Last Updated: Just
now
K.D. Straus became serious about writing at 50, and at 59,
she's 6 books in
Image | K.D. Straus
Caption: K.D. Straus is an author from Kitchener, Ont. who is
set to release the first of six books she written in the past
decade. They're all female-centric capers that are either based
on England or right here in Ontario. (Aastha Shetty/CBC)
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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:
Media Video | A heist, a hunt, a gang of female thieves:
Kitchener author's new book is a journey through 1920s southern
Ontario
Caption: 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.
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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.
LISTEN | Kitchener author K.D. Straus:
Media Audio | The Morning Edition - K-W : Kitchener author
releases 1st novel in a series of capers
Caption: It's a fictional story set in the 1920s. It takes the
reader through historical spots throughout southern Ontario.
Main character Marion tries to evade a relentless investigator
with the help of a motley crew of characters. Kitchener author
K.D. Straus talks about her first book, To Be True.
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