Collaborator (novel)
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Collaborator is an alternate history novel by Murray Davies, published in 2003. The novel is set in a Nazi occupied Great Britain in 1940 and 1941. It centers around former POW Nick Penny and life in occupied Britain. It won the 2003 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
- Contains Spoilers*
Sergeant Nick Penny has beeen a POW for four months. He had fought during the Nazi invasion of Britain. His ability to speak German has secured his release to work for the provincial governor of the West Country. He returns to his home (the location of which is undisclosed) to discover what has happened to his family and gets embroiled in the growing resistance movement. He gets involved in evading the Gestapo, collaborating with the IRA, unsuccessfully attempting to convey the British Crown Jewels to Canada and kidnap scientists.
[edit] Characters
Nick Penny - The main character, he was a Sergeant in an Anti-Aircraft unit during the German invasion and now works for the provincial governor. He finds previous friends hostile to him and being branded a traitor. However he joins the resistance to fight for Britain's freedom.
Mrs Penny - Nick's mother she doesn't like the Germans and is very protective of her family. She is arrested and executed later in the novel.
Joan Pendleton - Nick's sister, she was married to a Royal Navy officer before the war. He was killed in mid 1940 when his destroyer went down fighting. She is very formidable but is forced to sleep with a black marketeer to provide her family with food.
David Pendleton - Joan's naive young son. He is very adventurous and eager to kill Germans. His Uncle Nick has to keep him out of trouble. David is caught writing V for Victory signs on a barrack wall and is nearly deported but Nick saves him.
Generalleutnant Kurt von Glass - Provincial governor of the West Country, a Prussian. He is not overtly supportive of the Nazis but is proud of his country's military achievements. He was wounded leading Brandenburgers on an assault on British positions near Dover. He is eager to get into battle again and gets a commend on the Russian front midway through the novel.
Standartenfuhrer Stoltz - A cold blooded SS man who holds the British people in contempt. And desires the destruction of the British resistance.
Roy Locke & Matty Cordington - Both are ex POW's and pre-war friends of Nick's. They were both released from POW camps and meet up with Nick only to become heavily involved in the resistance.
[edit] Minor Characters
Jacob & Miriam Venner - Jewish couple who own a shop. They are subject to the SS and Miriam is deported.
Hauser- Glass's assistant
Sgt Bliecher - An German spy who try's to break up the local resistance unsuccessfully.
Vee Harper - A "gerrybag". She has a brief affair with Nick. She later gets pregnant with a German soldiers baby.
[edit] Background
Operation Sealion succedes in September 1940. After the French handed over its navy to the Germans, the Royal Navy moved to Canada. Pitched battles were fought on British soil in London and Ashford. The Irish Free State is also occupied. The British Royal Family and government flee to Canada. Winston Churchill leads a government in exile, while Samuel Hoare leads a collaborating government with Germany. The Duke of Windsor is awaiting to be crowned regent, but the Germans don't know that he and the Duchess of Windsor are actually spies. The British fleet and whats left of the army reside in Canada awaiting the re-invasion of Britain. Meanwhile the Germans are trying to locate the Crown Jewels which went missing during the invasion. Several battalions of the British Free Corps have been formed. Sir Oswald Mosley surprised most people by refusing to collaborate with the Germans and is locked up in the Tower of London. The Germans are attempting to charm the British people into submission. Organisations sprout up promoting Anglo-German Friendship. However there is a darker side to the occupation a hundred people have been killed in Liverpool and Glasgow. Jewish people are beginning to be persecuted, whilst a resistance movement is steadily growing.
