The Good Greek Girl
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by Maria Katsonis
Published by Jane Curry Publishing, April 2015
READING GROUP NOTES
About Maria Katsonis
Maria enjoyed a traditional Greek childhood, living on top of a
milk bar and sharing a bedroom with her yiayia. She was a good
Greek girl throughout high school until university when she
discovered her rebellious side and abandoned nine-tenths of an
economics degree for a career in the theatre. After a decade in the
arts, Maria decided it was time for a career change and became a bureaucrat. She is now
a senior executive in the Victorian Public Service.
In 2008, Maria experienced a severe episode of depression and was hospitalised for
over a month. She now lives with an ongoing mental illness and has become a vocal
advocate for mental health. Maria is a beyondblue Ambassador and a consumer
advocate with the Mental Health Australia. While she lives with a chronic mental illness,
she leads an active and meaningful life.
Introducing the book
Did you hear the one about the good Greek girl who walked into a tattoo parlour to celebrate
the anniversary of her discharge from a psych hospital? No? Well, that doesn’t surprise me,
because it’s not a joke, there is no punch line. You see, it’s a true story about me: Maria
Sophia Katsonis.
So begins this memoir of a woman who grew up in Melbourne, the first child to Greek
migrants who worked tirelessly in multiple jobs to provide her and her brother with
opportunities that had been denied them – opportunities that Maria took in her capable
and passionate hands to craft her own life, contributing to Melbourne’s vibrant,
burgeoning theatre scene in the mid-eighties, undertaking a postgraduate degree at
Harvard University, forging an illustrious career in public service and finding her voice
as a writer and sought-after public speaker, among other accomplishments.
But beneath the surface of her glittering life and devotion to her family were other,
more troubling stories, which she reveals in these pages, including her father’s violent
response to her sexual orientation and her battles with depression. But the fierce power
of love and forgiveness shines through even the most troubling aspects of this memoir.
A story of immense courage and charged with humour, passion and sorrow, Maria
reveals her humanity in all its complexity and in so doing she gives us the chance to
encounter our own.
Discussion questions
1. Why do you think this memoir is titled The Good Greek Girl?
2. Did you find this story inspiring? Did it disturb you? What elements inspired or
disturbed you?
3. What did this memoir reveal to you about growing up in Australia as the child of
Greek migrants? How did this experience affect the author? You may want to
consider these and the following questions from the point of view of the author (e.g.
How much pressure did the author receive to conform to Anglo-Australian norms?
Or to Greek norms?) and from outside perspectives (e.g. What impact has Greek
migration had on Australia and Australian identity?).
4. What did this memoir reveal to you about being gay? What effect did this have on
the author and the events that have unfolded in her life? Did the author’s gender
have any bearing on this?
5. What did this memoir reveal to you about depression, and how did this experience
affect the author?
6. What sorts of challenges do you think the author may have faced in the writing and
publication of this memoir? What are the potential rewards and benefits for writing
and publishing this memoir? Any drawbacks?
7. What would you consider the author’s biggest achievements to date?
8. Discuss one or more of the significant themes in this memoir, e.g: grief, forgiveness,
mental health, success, family, identity, home, work, self-realisation. Are there any
others?
9. Were you moved by this memoir? What moved you?
10. Is there a good Greek girl in every girl?