The Liars Trail in Paxos Greece with Katherine Fleet

Submitted: 15th August 2024

The Liars set in Paxos, Greece

Katherine Fleet is off to Paxos and she’s taking every one of us with her!!!

Come aboard….

Katherine Fleet

Map of Locations in The Liars

Creating a vivid, immersive setting is one of my favourite aspects of writing craft. All the novels I love best have strong settings and so I try to give my own readers that too. I first went to Paxos in 2022 and I knew immediately I wanted to set my next book there. It’s one of the Ionian islands, off the Greek mainland’s west coast. It gets more rain than most, making it gorgeously lush and green. You can’t fly direct – it’s a short hydrofoil journey from Corfu – which makes it feel even more special and secluded.

The Liars Katherine Fleet

For The Liars, I decided to rename it Eos. I wanted artistic licence to make the island smaller and more claustrophobic. This way, when things start going wrong for stepsisters Zoe and Lex, the tension really ramps up. Happily, I’m going back this August, and will be there on publication day. It was a coincidence but I’m so excited to return, and will have a cold Mythos beer to celebrate!

Tripitos Arch

Map of Locations in The Liars

This real stone arch became the Triton Arch in my book, named for the Greek god of the sea. I trekked along overgrown stone paths to find the place I’d only previously seen on photos. (It’s actually much easier to see it from a boat than from land.) You can cross it – it looks narrower than it is – but I didn’t dare. In the book, it’s the location for a key scene: when my three teenage girls dare each other to cross it. I wanted to show the tricky dynamics of female friendship, especially when three’s a crowd…

Map of Locations in The Liars

Ypapanti Bell Tower (c) Katherine Fleet

Ypapanti Bell Tower

I also adapted a real bell tower in a secluded valley for my story. Again, it’s a really significant location for some of the story’s most high drama moments. It’s beautiful but unnaturally quiet there so it was a gift of a setting. The big alteration I made was creating an eye-shaped green lake below the church. I wanted it to feel really creepy and haunted. Hopefully it’s one of the most memorable and visual locations in the book.

Map of Locations in The Liars

Lakka

I never name the village where my characters are staying but it’s based on Lakka. It has a beautiful natural harbour and so there are always yachts moored up for the night, making the waterside bars and tavernas really buzzy. The lovely old villa where my characters live, named Calliope after the goddess with the beautiful singing voice, is totally invented. I wanted to have free rein because the house is almost a character in its own right.

Map of Locations in The Liars

Paxos beaches (c) Katherine Fleet

White stone beaches

Paxos’ white pebble beaches are the reason the water is so clear there. Sand is easier on the feet but you don’t get that amazing clarity! The wonderful beach bars and restaurants of the north-east coast crop up a few times in the book.

Map of Locations in The Liars

Lakka (c) Katherine Fleet

Harbourside bars

The first time Zoe meets her new stepsister Lex, they go to a bar. The sea is so calm inside the harbour that the tables go right to the edge. Zoe, terrified of embarrassing herself in front of the much cooler Lex, worries about falling in. She doesn’t, and it’s from this point that they start to bond, despite their differences.

Map of Locations in The Liars

Paxos (c) Katherine Fleet

The Pinkening

I invented a term in the book called the ‘pinkening’. This is how Zoe describes the incredible rosy light that occurs just before dusk after a hot, clear day. It turns everything neon pink, especially the pale stone the island’s houses and walls are made out of. Land boundaries are marked with the owners’ initials, which looked eerie to me. I incorporated this into the book when one of the girls goes missing. With her initial daubed on the walls everywhere the other girls look, the tension builds and builds.