I tried to get into this book but unfortunately after many attempts it could not hold my attention long enough to continue reading.

When I started The Collaborator, I didn’t expect to be so on edge for historic fiction but it was quite the mystery with an astonishing and amazing ending. I would absolutely recommend for anyone that likes historic fiction. I really enjoyed how the book jumped time periods (but don’t worry - it’s clearly labeled so you don’t get lost!!)

After seeing her grandmother’s photo in a Holocaust museum, Annika embarks on a quest for answers. What she discovers leads her to learn more about herself.

The collaborator by Diane Armstrong follows Sydney women, Annika, as she travels to Budapest after seeing a photo of her grandmother in the Jewish museum in Sydney. Her grandmother was standing with a group of people next to a train in Switzerland in 1944 after being saved from the death camps by Miklos Nagy. This comes as a surprise as though she knew her grandmother came from Hungary, they are Catholics. Her grandmother denies it is her and immediately shuts the subject down, and reacts angrily to Miklos’s name. As Annika has just left her journalist position, she decides to follow the story and find out the truth despite her grandmother’s opposition.

The story switches between 1944, the 1950s and 2005 as Annika follows Miklos’s story. Having visited Budapest twice, and loving it, Diane Armstrong brought the city alive and I could ‘see’ it as Annika moved around it. This is a story of heroism, passion, hatred, betrayal and love. However, It was a very long book, although I enjoyed the story i do confess that my eyes glazed over once or twice as some parts were just so full of information it was almost tedious to read at times.

The collaborator is based on a true story. Rezso Kastner was a Jewish businessman living in Budapest, Hungary, when the Germans invaded in 1944. Knowing what the fate of the Hungarian Jews would be, Kastner managed to negotiate with Adolf Eichmann for the release of a trainload of Jews in exchange for money and jewels. A committee was set to pick Jews from all levels of society and send them to Switzerland. After the war Kastner moved to Israel but was accused of collaborating with the Germans because he didn’t warn all the other Hungarian Jews that they would be sent to death camps.

This was a heartbreaking but fascinating novel based on the true, astonishing events set in the darkest days of World War II in Budapest, Hungary and then to 1950s Tel Aviv, Israel, and to Sydney in 2005. This was an enthralling story of heroism, vengeance, passion and betrayal. It is also the story of three generations of women linked by a secret that threatens to destroy their lives. An act of heroism, the taint of collaboration, a doomed love affair, and an Australian woman who travels across the world to discover the truth...
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 was very angering and saddening to learn that the Hungarian government of the time willingly collaborated with the Nazis to annihilate the country's Jewish population, by sending them to concentration camps like Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Hungary also enacted what was similar to the Nuremberg laws in Germany beware World War Two, where Jewish people were stripped of their civil rights and liberties-they couldn't have jobs, couldn't enjoy leisure, didn't have travel permits. Their freedom to live was just gone. Miklos Nagy was considered a controversial person: the people he rescued praised him, but the ones he couldn't rescue due to the bargain he'd made, were very angry that he'd left them and their loved ones behind to die and suffer. Because he had dealings with Nazis, many people saw him as a collaborator, but what I really loved about this novel was that lines are easily blurred, and that the world is not completely black and white, there are many shades of grey in between. The author makes the reader sympathise and empathise with Miklos about the hard decisions he had to make, and the subsequent actions he had to take. Then we move forward to the early 1950s in Tel Aviv, Israel where the country is in disarray as the government was corrupt and the standard of living was very low, rationing was still there. Israel has had a very complicated political history-with skirmishes with Arabians and the British, its own people have so many factions, and there are many disagreements. All this in-fighting culminated in the worst ship warfare disaster in 1948: the sinking of the Atalena. What was even more saddening and angering to hear was that not every Holocaust survivor was welcomed in Israel by their own kind, who thought they purposely made themselves victims to the Germans, instead of fighting against them and hailing as victors. No one was willing to listen to other people's sufferings. Any collaboration with Nazis carried the death penalty in Israel. Another lesson I picked up was that gratitude is conditional. You can give to or everything for someone, or do something that'll benefit them by saving their life, but their initial gratitude runs out as they truly don't appreciate all that you do, especially when it comes to light the negotiable and painstaking efforts someone had to endure to perform a heroic act. In the end, it was very hard to get justice, as so many people were selfish and had vested interests, and they were manipulative to turning situations to their advantage to take revenge. Even after the horrors of World War Two, people still didn't understand the importance of peace, having empathy and doing their jobs correctly.

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. Annika's grandmother, Marika, is a successful fashion designer who never talks about her past. She prefers to focus on the present, and therefore cuts off any question relating to the Holocaust and war-especially by never returning to Budapest nor practicing Judaism. So Annika takes matters into her own hands and quits her magazine editing job because they were always publishing unimportant content about celebrities. Annika is a middle aged woman who hasn't found her place yet, she wants to write stories that are meaningful and have substance. She is intrigued by her grandmother's past, and that interest only piques after her grandmother gets angry and vehement at hearing Miklos Nagy's name being mentioned after Annika enquires about him, as well as noticing a photo of a young Marika at the Sydney Jewish Museum, which Marika denies it was hers. Annika then sets off to both Hungary, and then Israel to find out her grandmother's past, and Miklos Nagy. 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.

Book blurb...
Is he a hero or a traitor? Based on astonishing true events set in the darkest days of World War II in Budapest, this is an enthralling story of heroism, vengeance, passion, and betrayal. It is also the story of three women linked by a secret that threatens to destroy their lives. For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, All That I Am and Schindler's Ark (List).
An act of heroism, the taint of collaboration, a doomed love affair, and an Australian woman who travels across the world to discover the truth...
It is 1944 in Budapest and the Germans have invaded. Jewish businessman 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.

My thoughts…
There are some amazing authors, like Tea Cooper, who are writing fantastic novels based on fact. I am really enjoying this genre.
The author of the Collaborator, Diane Armstrong, also writes a great story and reading it helped me gain a better understanding of the politics of war and the battle that still exists in affected countries.
This story of a young woman discovering the truth about her Grandmother's life is a tale expertly woven and thoroughly enjoyable and intriguing. A fascinating tale of one man’s courage and his fight to save so many countrymen, only to be accused and tried as a collaborator. You will need to form your own opinion.
A great read for your TBR pile, even if you don’t normally read historicals.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Australia and Diane Armstrong for giving me the chance to read and review her book: The Collaborator.
Budapest 1944, Miklos Nagy is a Jewish journalist he's desperately trying to save as many Hungarian Jews as he can from the death camps and he has to negotiate their safety with the dreaded Adolf Eichmann.
In 2005, Sydney journalist Annika Barnett has always wondered how her grandmother Marika, survived the Holocaust and what happened to her during WW II? Her grandmother will never discuss her past and Annika has no idea how her Nana ended up living in Australia?
She decides to travel to Budapest and eventually makes her way to Tel Aviv. What she discovers effects all three generations of her family and she finds out about her grandmothers secret past.
The books is a long one, it's really a historical family saga about heroism, betrayal, passion and secrets.
Was Miklos Nagy a hero or a traitor?
I gave The Collaborator 3 stars, I'm sorry but I found the story very long, tedious and I was glad when I reached the end!

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.

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.

‘How was it that this man, a Jew, was able to secure special protection for his group from the Hungarians and the Germans at a time when Jews were being rounded up in ghettos and deported?’

Always up for anything WW2 related,especially when factually based, this is a fascinating story surrounding Rudolf Kastner and his crusade to rescue over 1000 Hungarian Jews from imminent annihilation by the Nazis. Attempting to select a cross section of Jews from all areas of society, as well as people from his home village and family members, there would be, sadly, no simple outcome. Unlike Oscar Schindler, it would appear that controversy surrounded Kastner (fictionalised Miklos Nagy in the story) concerning not only human costs but also a moral complexity surrounding the whole debacle. After the war, when Kastner was working for the government in Israel, he would be accused of collaborating with the Nazis in his attempt to save lives. As the author states herself, ‘I’m fascinated by the moral ambiguities of the story .... How do you balance the merit of rescuing over fifteen hundred Jews against the crime of writing an affidavit to exonerate a Nazi? Can a man be a hero as well as a collaborator? Was it possible to be both? Can the end justify the means? Were human actions able to be judged in absolutes?’

‘There were times when he saw himself as a modern-day Noah, sending his ark out of Hungary in the hope that this tiny part of the community might survive the Nazi inundation.’

Not only do you have a fictionalised version of events during WW2 and in Israel in the early 1950s, but this tale is also told through the eyes of one young Australian - a woman whose grandmother was one of the lucky survivors on that train. Unable to get a satisfactory response from her family, Annika sets off to first Budapest (loved the descriptions of this city!) and then to Tel Aviv Israel, in an attempt to discover the truth and meaning of not only her grandmothers (and thus her very own story) but also the meaning and angst behind the whole situation.

‘Appalled by their gullibility, Miklós had argued with the council members in Budapest, urging them to stop co-operating with the Nazis. Frustrated by their inability or unwillingness to see through the deception, he shouted, ‘You can’t believe what they say. By colluding with them, you’ll only make it easier for them to destroy our whole community.’

The story will move between past and present with the themes of collaboration and heroism mixed with deceit and honesty battling it out in both storylines. The link between Annika’s grandmother and the historical story I found to be really well done. There is also a whole lot of Israeli history and politics involved for those who try to wrap their head around this controversial place in the world.

‘He knows that for most people, denying reality is preferable to confronting a disturbing truth.’

‘This is a trick question, and there is no way of answering it truthfully without incriminating himself. It’s a question that assumes that actions can be judged in black or white, but he knows that the truth always lies inside a narrow crack in between. He longs to explain this but knows that isn’t possible.’

For me, I was totally engaged in the whole dilemma of hero versus traitor. How could a man who saved so many from certain death, be at the same time, vilified by so many? And the final plot twist (which I had suspected) was still well presented. Although a little long in parts, this is most certainly a fascinating tale of courage and compassion during dire circumstances. Tied in neatly to the present day with the search for not only the truth but also personal answers, this is a book I would highly recommend to history lovers.

‘For many years, I used to wonder if my life had any meaning. But if I can save this group of Jews, I’ll feel I haven’t lived in vain.’

‘What makes it worse is that our own government is collaborating with the Nazis,’ Ilonka sighs, and Miklós nods. ‘One day they will pay for their collusion,’ he mutters.




This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Reading The Collaborator has been both fascinating and thought provoking throughout. While this is a work of fiction, it is based on real historical facts and that has made it all the more interesting for me.
I loved the way author Diane Armstrong has woven the modern day investigations by Annika Barnett into the wartime rescue of Hungarian Jews by Miklos Nagy to create an intriguing novel. The other aspect of this novel that particularly appealed to me was the way in which the idea of gratitude can play on individuals, whether they are those who are grateful for something done for them or whether they are the person to whom that gratitude is directed. I thought about guilt and forgiveness and misinterpreted actions over and over as I turned the pages.
This novel is multi-layered and compels readers to constantly question why something has happened, why a person would act in a particular way and what might make them think one thing or another. For me it was compelling reading and a book I will definitely put on my to be reread shelf.

An enjoyable read, The Collaborator is the story of one woman's journey to search out the truth of her family history. Annika travels to Budapest after seeing a photo of her grandmother in the Jewish museum in Sydney. Her grandmother denies it is her and immediately shuts the subject down, so Annika is on a mission to ferret out the truth. What she finds is much more than she bargained for! Her search takes her further afield to Tel Aviv, where she uncovers a transcript that reveals the shocking truth.

The Collaborator is a well researched and believable tale, based on true events. It has betrayal, secrets and a touch of romance. Even though it's nearly 500 pages I read this book in one day, the story is engrossing. The main problem I had with this book, however, is that I never really connected with any of the characters. I wasn't engaged enough that I never wanted the story to end. Having said that I did like the book and recommend it to lovers of World War 2 fiction, and it's aftermath.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s Sydney Australia in 2005, where we're introduced to single and unlucky in love, forty year old Annika Barnett. On visiting the Sydney Jewish museum she notices a historical photo taken in Switzerland in 1944 of a group of Hungarian Jews just arrived by train, they were rescued by Miklos Nagy. In the photo she recognises her grandmother.

After resigning from her job as a journalist and being out of work Annika decides with her free time to travel to where her family originated from and discover more about her grandmother's past and rescue from Hungary during WW11. Annika is intrigued by her grandmother’s emotional reaction to the mention of the name Miklos Nagy. Her grandmother, Holocaust survivor Marika who had built a successful life in Australia would never talk about her past and was forbiddingly private.

Annika makes arrangements to travel to Budapest where she then extends her trip to include Tel Aviv and uncovers the truth about her grandmother’s past and so much more.

In Hungary, 1944 Miklos Nagy risks his life to save over a thousand jews from German concentration camps, including Annika’s grandmother. Is Miklos Nagy a hero or does he have blood on his hands?

The Collaborator is told in two timelines, 1944 and 2005. A very well researched historical mystery based on elements of the true story of Rezso Kasztner. A long absorbing read and a satisfying and emotional ending to a fully immersive novel.

Thank you to NetgalleyHarlequin Australia for the ARC

Sydney, Australia in 2005 and Annika Barnett had quit her high-profile job as dissatisfaction threaded through her. Her life so far had been unfulfilling – when she heard about a Jewish man named Miklos Nagy from Budapest during the war, and saw her grandmother’s violent reaction to his name, Annika was determined to find answers. After all this man had saved her grandmother’s life back in 1944.

Annika headed first to Budapest, then on to Israel and her search for answers left her with many more questions. But the horrors of the Holocaust; the bravery of Miklos Nagy and the arrogance and evil of Adolf Eichmann was just the beginning. Annika’s journalistic determination as she scoured for the truth to those horrific days and the events following led her to many people. When she finally uncovered the secrets, she knew it was time to head home. She needed to see her mother and grandmother and tell them the story…

The Collaborator is a fascinating historical fiction novel by Aussie author Diane Armstrong which is set over two time frames. Miklos Nagy tells his side of the story from 1944 onwards, while Annika narrates in 2005. The Collaborator is based on fact and the research by Ms Armstrong has been intense. She explains in the Author’s Notes at the end of the book and I was intrigued as well as horrified. This is my second read by this author with Winter Journey being my first, and I’ve loved them both. An excellent writer, I’ll definitely be reading more. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy historical novels based on real people and events. In 1944 a Jewish businessman, Rudolf Kastner, was able to rescue a trainload of over 1600 Hungarian Jews from being sent to German gas chambers through negotiating with Adolf Eichmann to set them free in exchange for the possibility of tanks to fight the Russians (as well as money and jewelry). The Budapest Aid and Rescue Committee selected Jews from all areas of society to send to Switzerland with Kastner able to include members of his family and some Jews from his home village. After the war when Kastner had settled become a civil servant in Israel, he would be accused of collaborating with the Germans by not warning the remaining Hungarian Jews that they would be sent to death camps.

Diane Armstrong's novel tells a fictionalised version of Kastner's miracle train, through the investigations of a young Australian woman whose grandmother was one it's lucky passengers. Annika, a journalist could never get her grandmother to tell her story of how she escaped from Hungary during WW2 so she is fascinated when she visits a Jewish museum and hears about the train and sees her grandmother in a photo of its passengers arriving in Switzerland. With some time on her hand after resigning from her job, Annika decides to visit Budapest to learn more about her grandmother's story and the businessman (given the fictional name Miklos Nagy in the novel) who rescued a trainload of Jews from certain death. Her investigations will eventually take her to Tel Aviv where she will learn her grandmother's secret and a revelation that will alter the course of her life.

This is a very well researched and carefully crafted historical mystery, all the more enjoyable because it is based on a true story. Of course all history is biased by the narrator's viewpoint, and is particularly where Israeli politics and history is involved. We'll never really know what Kastner had to do to convince Eichmann to allow a trainload of Jews to escape to Switzerland, but he does appear to have been wrongly accused of collaboration. He was certainly a hero for those allowed on the train and there was nothing Kastner or his committee could have done to stop the Germans from sending the remaining Hungarian Jews to the gas chambers. This is a long book, perhaps a little longer than needed, but it makes for a fascinating tale of courage and resiliance, expertly interwoven in the story of a young woman discovering her family's roots and finding love and a new life along the way.

‘We all want truth, yes? But can you cut water with a knife?’

Budapest, 1944. In this novel, based on a true story, Ms Armstrong explores the moral complexities and human costs associated with the rescue of thousands of Budapest Jews from concentration camps. In this novel, the rescue was undertaken by Miklós Nagy, a Jewish businessman. For many he was a hero, but others saw him as a traitor. Why?

After Germany invaded Hungary in 1944, Miklós Nagy confronted Adolf Eichmann to negotiate for the lives of the remaining Jews of Hungary. He reaches an agreement, one he knows cannot succeed, but he hopes that stalling for time will delay the deportations until the war is over. But not everyone can be saved and treating with the Germans is seen as collaboration.

‘Gratitude is conditional and memory is short.’

Sixty-one years later in Sydney, Australia, Annika Barnett sets out on a journey which takes her to Budapest and Tel Aviv. A mysterious man rescued her grandmother Marika in 1944, and Annika is in search of the truth.
As the story moves between past and present, we observe both the best and the worst of human behaviour. Betrayal and heroism, passion and vengeance, human frailty each have a part to play in this story. Annika is searching for both the truth of the past and her own place in the world. Marika has secrets she’d rather not share. And the name of Miklós Nagy is both venerated and vilified. Can a man be both a hero and a traitor? I wondered what I might have done in his situation.

‘Perhaps no sin is unforgiveable if you can understand the sinner.’

I found this a difficult novel to read. Many of Miklós Nagy’s actions were heroic, some were misunderstood, others had unintended consequences. By the end of the novel, I was simultaneously filled with admiration for what Miklós Nagy had achieved and saddened that he could not achieve more. This novel was inspired by and is based on the story of Rezső Kasztner, who remains a controversial figure in Israel.

Diane Armstrong is a child Holocaust survivor who arrived in Australia from Poland in 1948. This is the second of her books I have read, and I have added the others to my reading list.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith