Title: THE COLLABORATOR
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: πππ1/2
Book Description:
It is 1944 in Budapest and the Germans have invaded. Jewish
journalist Miklos Nagy risks his life and confronts the dreaded Adolf Eichmann
in an attempt save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the death camps. But no one
could have foreseen the consequences...
It is 2005 in Sydney, and Annika Barnett sets out on a journey that takes her to Budapest and Tel Aviv to discover the truth about the mysterious man who rescued her grandmother in 1944.
By the time her odyssey is over, history has been turned on its head, past and present collide, and the secret that has poisoned the lives of three generations is finally revealed in a shocking climax that holds the key to their redemption.
It is 2005 in Sydney, and Annika Barnett sets out on a journey that takes her to Budapest and Tel Aviv to discover the truth about the mysterious man who rescued her grandmother in 1944.
By the time her odyssey is over, history has been turned on its head, past and present collide, and the secret that has poisoned the lives of three generations is finally revealed in a shocking climax that holds the key to their redemption.
My musings:
I can never resist a good story set during WWII, especially
one that explores lesser known historical events during that dark time in
history. Diane Armstrong’s latest book, THE COLLABORATOR, falls firmly into
that category. Inspired by real happenings and people, her captivating story focuses on
the fate of 1500 Hungarian Jews who were saved from certain death in German
concentration camps by the actions of one man – who will later have to stand
trial for being a Nazi collaborator. Hero or traitor? How can one and the same action
be considered to be both, depending on how you look at it?
It was immediately obvious that Armstrong has done A LOT of
research into her topic, as her story is peppered with facts and historical
details that opened my eyes to political events that had somehow slipped under
the radar for me. If history lessons had been as captivating as this book, I
would certainly have known more about the fate of the many Jewish people who
managed to escape the Nazi death camps and started their new lives in Israel,
facing a whole new set of challenges after the war was over. Armstrong
seamlessly weaves historical fact with fiction, with characters that
practically leap off the pages, take the reader by the hand and draw them into
their world. I feel like I learned so much by reading this story!
Narrated in a dual timeline format, one part of the story is
being told through the eyes of Annika, an Australian journalist trying to find
out the truth about Miklos Nagy, the man who allegedly saved her grandmother’s
life together with 1500 other Jews during the war. Since her grandmother
remains tight-lipped about the subject, Annika decides to go to Hungary where her
grandmother was living during the war. She thus embarks on a journey that will
take her from Hungary to Israel, only to uncover a remarkable and heart
breaking story of love, courage and betrayal.
The second timeline, set during the war, explores the very
events Annika is investigating, and is narrated through the eyes of Miklos Nagy
himself, a man who is lauded as hero by some, traitor by others.
Personally, I connected more with Annika’s story, and
related to her quest to uncover some truths about her grandmother’s past. I
have worked with numerous holocaust survivors, whose families never knew about
the terrible tragedies they had suffered, so Annika’s grandmother’s silence on
the subject rang true for me, as did her quest for answers. Whilst I found
Miklos Nagy’s chapters fascinating and eye opening, they also felt a bit more
detached and at times heavy with historical facts. This is not a criticism,
merely a caution to readers to allow time to digest the story rather than expecting
a quick entertaining read. I found myself looking up facts about Hungary and
the fate of its Jewish population because I felt I needed to understand the
context more – and I am grateful to have learned from the story as well as appreciating
the armchair time travel.
Summary:
All in all, THE COLLABORATOR was a well-researched,
interesting and thought provoking novel based on real life persons and events
that explored a chapter of WWII history not often touched upon in historical
fiction. I found it relevant and educational as well as deeply moving, and
recommend it to all lovers of the genre.
Thank
you to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.