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Collaborator (novel)
Encyclopedia
Collaborator is an alternate history novel by Murray Davies
, published as a hardcover on 19 September 2003 and released in paperback in the United Kingdom and the United States in September 2004. The novel is set in a Nazi-occupied Great Britain
in 1940 and 1941. It chronicles life during this period primarily through the experiences of Nick Penny, the collaborator of the novel's title.
in September 1940. The reason for this success is never clearly explained, but a major factor appears to have been the transfer of the French navy to the Germans after the fall of France. Battles were fought on British soil in London and Ashford, and the Irish Free State
is also occupied. In the end the British Royal Family and government flee to Canada, where Winston Churchill
leads a government in exile. In London, Samuel Hoare leads a collaborating government, while the Duke of Windsor
returns to become regent
. 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 as one hundred people have been killed in Liverpool
and Glasgow
. Jewish people are beginning to be persecuted, whilst a resistance movement is steadily growing.
Nick Penny to his home in an unnamed West Country
port town. A former prisoner of war
, he had been captured in the aftermath of the successful German invasion of Britain
. A former schoolteacher, his ability to speak German had secured his release to work as a translator
for the military governor of region, Generalleutnant Kurt von Glass. Glass soon puts Penny to work in organizing the "Anglo-German Friendship League", which is designed to foster greater unity. Penny is uncomfortable with his current position, and his viewed with suspicion by much of the community. Soon after his return, he visits the Three Horseshoes, a local pub operated by the family of his friend, Roy Locke. There he reconnects with Locke, who immediately begins to recruit him for the emerging resistance movement. Penny begs off, requesting time while he sorts matters out.
Penny soon finds himself drawn into the resistance, motivated in part by the gradually increasing harshness of German rule. Penny's mother and sister, with whom he lives, suffer physically and psychologically from the effects of German rule, while Penny's nephew, David, desires to strike back. Though Glass supports Penny's suggestions for fostering Anglo-German amity, the region's security chief, Standartenführer Stolz, is using every pretext for brutalizing the local population. Penny and Locke nearly miss curfew, but are saved at the last minute by the timely arrival of Matty Cordington, their old friend, who was released from internment
and who brought Sara Burskin, a Polish refugee, with him. Roy quickly enlists them into a plan to smuggle the Regent, his wife, and the crown jewels
out of the country, but they are thwarted by the Abwehr
. Though Penny and Cordington manage to evade capture, Locke is arrested but kills himself before revealing any information.
After their failed operation, Penny loses contact with the resistance. Loathing his life, he watches as profiteers like the local newsagent
reap the benefits of the growing crackdown on Jewish businesses. In March, however, the German invasion of the Soviet Union breathes new life into the resistance as Communists now join the effort. Penny is contacted once again by Coral Kennedy, a young woman whom he met during the failed effort to smuggle out the Regent and the jewels. Once again involved with the resistance, Penny assists in a number of their operations, informing Kennedy of an attempt by the IRA
to assassinate Glass and helping to smuggle a Danish scientist
and his wife out of the country. Yet these are isolated successes amidst a series of setbacks, as the Germans disrupt operations and shut down networks. Glass himself soon leaves Britain to serve on the Eastern Front
; his departure coincides with the roundup of foreign-born Jews
by the authorities, including one in hiding on Cordington's estate. A ruse by the resistance reveals the leak: Sara Burskin. Informed of this discovery, Cordington agrees to kill her himself.
The discovery of the leak leads the resistance to abandon contact with Penny yet again, as the German security services are clearly aware of his participation in the resistance and hope by monitoring him they can discover the identity of other members. Penny is therefore surprised when Kennedy suddenly contacts him in July with a new mission: to smuggle out Otto Frisch
, who the Gestapo has discovered knows information which could be vital to the development of a "superbomb
". Traveling to Liverpool
, they succeed in persuading Frisch to agree to escape. Avoiding discovery, Penny hides Frisch among the Jenner family, where he poses as a visiting relative. The Germans order a second round-up of the Jews, though, this time including native-born British citizens. Frisch is captured along with the Jenners, and Penny and Cordington travel to Imber
in order to stage an escape from the concentration camp the Germans have built there.
Upon their return Cordington tells Penny about his plans to meet with a nearby resistance leader, followed by a trip to London for an upcoming conference to resistance leadership to be held during the Regent's re-coronation
. After he leaves, Penny is sent to intercept him and to head-off an ill-advised ambush that threatens to draw in a nearby Waffen-SS
unit. Penny arrives in time to save Cordington but not to stop the ambush, which leads the Germans and their British auxiliaries to massacre everyone in the nearby town of Merricombe in response. He returns with news of the massacre, which Kennedy quickly exploits for propaganda purposes. When they attempt to smuggle Frisch out of England, however, they are met by Sara, who is very much alive and who reveals that Cordington is in fact a double agent
who was coerced into working with the Gestapo upon the discovery that his deceased mother was in fact Jewish. Killing Sara, Penny and Kennedy race to London to prevent Cordington from revealing the location of the resistance meeting to the Germans. Pursued by the authorities, they make it to London and warn the resistance, but they are unable to stop Cordington before he executes his real plan: using the credentials given to him by the Gestapo to get through security at the coronation and setting off a suicide bomb that kills the Regent and assembled German leadership. In the aftermath, the Germans retaliate by massacring over 100,000 people (including Penny's remaining family), triggering a nationwide rebellion that threatens the Germans' hold on their empire.
prior to becoming a sergeant in the Intelligence Corps during the war. His command of German led to his position as a translator and liaison for the German occupation leadership in the region.
Coral Kennedy - A member of the resistance
, she is a highly trained and adept operative. "Coral Kennedy" is subsequently revealed to be an alias; her real name is Jennifer.
Roy Locke - A friend of Nick Penny and a former POW. The son of a local publican
, he joins the resistance soon after his release and involves Nick in its operations.
Matty Cordington - A friend of Nick Penny and Roy Locke. The son of a wealthy local landowner, he was awarded the MC
during the invasion. After his return from a POW camp he joins Nick and Roy in the resistance.
Generalleutnant Kurt von Glass - Provincial governor of the Westgau, the German-established province (gau) encompassing the West Country. A Prussia
n, he is not overtly supportive of the Nazis but is proud of his country's military achievements.
Standartenführer
Stolz - The security chief of the Westgau, he is a cold blooded member of the SS who holds the British people in contempt and desires the destruction of the British resistance.
Joan Pendleton - Nick's sister, who was married to a Royal Navy
officer before the war. He was killed in mid-1940 when his destroyer, HMS Greyhound
went down fighting.
Margaret Penny - Nick's mother, who appears increasingly withdrawn from reality as a consequence of the losses she has suffered from the German invasion.
David Pendleton - Joan's naïve young son. He is very adventurous and eager to kill Germans.
John Mills - A former colonel in the British Army, he is a leading member of the resistance.
Sara Burskin - A Polish refugee who accompanies Matty Cordington upon his return from the POW camp. The two share a strained relationship and she is eager to be involved in resistance activities.
Jacob & Miriam Jenner - A Jewish couple who own a tea room in town. It was Jacob who first interested Nick Penny in the German language as a young boy.
Hubert Leech - A newsagent
who profits from the war and occupation, taking advantage of Nazi persecutions of Jewish businesses to purchase the Jenners' tea room.
Hauptmann Hauser - Glass's aide-de-camp
.
Sergeant Bliecher - A member of the Abwehr who tries to break up the local resistance.
Collaborator won the 2003 Sidewise Award for Alternate History
.
>Past Sidewise award honorees, Accessed 2008-07-04
Murray Davies
- Biography :Murray Davies was born into a mining family in South Wales. He won a scholarship to UCW Aberystwyth where he studied International Politics, followed by an MA in First World War poetry. He worked for the Daily Mail and Mirror Group as a reporter and feature writer. After twenty years...
, published as a hardcover on 19 September 2003 and released in paperback in the United Kingdom and the United States in September 2004. The novel is set in a Nazi-occupied Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 1940 and 1941. It chronicles life during this period primarily through the experiences of Nick Penny, the collaborator of the novel's title.
Background
The novel is premised on the successful German invasion of BritainOperation Sealion
Operation Sea Lion was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during the Second World War, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, however, the operation would have required air and naval supremacy over the English Channel...
in September 1940. The reason for this success is never clearly explained, but a major factor appears to have been the transfer of the French navy to the Germans after the fall of France. Battles were fought on British soil in London and Ashford, and the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
is also occupied. In the end the British Royal Family and government flee to Canada, where Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
leads a government in exile. In London, Samuel Hoare leads a collaborating government, while the Duke of Windsor
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
returns to become regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
. 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 as one hundred people have been killed in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. Jewish people are beginning to be persecuted, whilst a resistance movement is steadily growing.
Plot summary
The novel begins in December 1940 with the return of SergeantSergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Nick Penny to his home in an unnamed West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
port town. A former prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, he had been captured in the aftermath of the successful German invasion of Britain
Operation Sealion
Operation Sea Lion was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during the Second World War, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, however, the operation would have required air and naval supremacy over the English Channel...
. A former schoolteacher, his ability to speak German had secured his release to work as a translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
for the military governor of region, Generalleutnant Kurt von Glass. Glass soon puts Penny to work in organizing the "Anglo-German Friendship League", which is designed to foster greater unity. Penny is uncomfortable with his current position, and his viewed with suspicion by much of the community. Soon after his return, he visits the Three Horseshoes, a local pub operated by the family of his friend, Roy Locke. There he reconnects with Locke, who immediately begins to recruit him for the emerging resistance movement. Penny begs off, requesting time while he sorts matters out.
Penny soon finds himself drawn into the resistance, motivated in part by the gradually increasing harshness of German rule. Penny's mother and sister, with whom he lives, suffer physically and psychologically from the effects of German rule, while Penny's nephew, David, desires to strike back. Though Glass supports Penny's suggestions for fostering Anglo-German amity, the region's security chief, Standartenführer Stolz, is using every pretext for brutalizing the local population. Penny and Locke nearly miss curfew, but are saved at the last minute by the timely arrival of Matty Cordington, their old friend, who was released from internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
and who brought Sara Burskin, a Polish refugee, with him. Roy quickly enlists them into a plan to smuggle the Regent, his wife, and the crown jewels
Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom
The collective term Crown Jewels denotes the regalia and vestments worn by the sovereign of the United Kingdom during the coronation ceremony and at other state functions...
out of the country, but they are thwarted by the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
. Though Penny and Cordington manage to evade capture, Locke is arrested but kills himself before revealing any information.
After their failed operation, Penny loses contact with the resistance. Loathing his life, he watches as profiteers like the local newsagent
Newsagent
A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
reap the benefits of the growing crackdown on Jewish businesses. In March, however, the German invasion of the Soviet Union breathes new life into the resistance as Communists now join the effort. Penny is contacted once again by Coral Kennedy, a young woman whom he met during the failed effort to smuggle out the Regent and the jewels. Once again involved with the resistance, Penny assists in a number of their operations, informing Kennedy of an attempt by the IRA
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...
to assassinate Glass and helping to smuggle a Danish scientist
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
and his wife out of the country. Yet these are isolated successes amidst a series of setbacks, as the Germans disrupt operations and shut down networks. Glass himself soon leaves Britain to serve on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
; his departure coincides with the roundup of foreign-born Jews
Final Solution
The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the most deadly phase of the Holocaust...
by the authorities, including one in hiding on Cordington's estate. A ruse by the resistance reveals the leak: Sara Burskin. Informed of this discovery, Cordington agrees to kill her himself.
The discovery of the leak leads the resistance to abandon contact with Penny yet again, as the German security services are clearly aware of his participation in the resistance and hope by monitoring him they can discover the identity of other members. Penny is therefore surprised when Kennedy suddenly contacts him in July with a new mission: to smuggle out Otto Frisch
Otto Robert Frisch
Otto Robert Frisch , Austrian-British physicist. With his collaborator Rudolf Peierls he designed the first theoretical mechanism for the detonation of an atomic bomb in 1940.- Overview :...
, who the Gestapo has discovered knows information which could be vital to the development of a "superbomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
". Traveling to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, they succeed in persuading Frisch to agree to escape. Avoiding discovery, Penny hides Frisch among the Jenner family, where he poses as a visiting relative. The Germans order a second round-up of the Jews, though, this time including native-born British citizens. Frisch is captured along with the Jenners, and Penny and Cordington travel to Imber
Imber
Imber is an uninhabited village in part of the British Army's training grounds on the Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is situated in an isolated area of the Plain, about west of the A360 road between Tilshead and West Lavington, accessible only by military tracks...
in order to stage an escape from the concentration camp the Germans have built there.
Upon their return Cordington tells Penny about his plans to meet with a nearby resistance leader, followed by a trip to London for an upcoming conference to resistance leadership to be held during the Regent's re-coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
. After he leaves, Penny is sent to intercept him and to head-off an ill-advised ambush that threatens to draw in a nearby Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
unit. Penny arrives in time to save Cordington but not to stop the ambush, which leads the Germans and their British auxiliaries to massacre everyone in the nearby town of Merricombe in response. He returns with news of the massacre, which Kennedy quickly exploits for propaganda purposes. When they attempt to smuggle Frisch out of England, however, they are met by Sara, who is very much alive and who reveals that Cordington is in fact a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
who was coerced into working with the Gestapo upon the discovery that his deceased mother was in fact Jewish. Killing Sara, Penny and Kennedy race to London to prevent Cordington from revealing the location of the resistance meeting to the Germans. Pursued by the authorities, they make it to London and warn the resistance, but they are unable to stop Cordington before he executes his real plan: using the credentials given to him by the Gestapo to get through security at the coronation and setting off a suicide bomb that kills the Regent and assembled German leadership. In the aftermath, the Germans retaliate by massacring over 100,000 people (including Penny's remaining family), triggering a nationwide rebellion that threatens the Germans' hold on their empire.
Characters
Nick Penny - The main character, he was the German master of the local grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
prior to becoming a sergeant in the Intelligence Corps during the war. His command of German led to his position as a translator and liaison for the German occupation leadership in the region.
Coral Kennedy - A member of the resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
, she is a highly trained and adept operative. "Coral Kennedy" is subsequently revealed to be an alias; her real name is Jennifer.
Roy Locke - A friend of Nick Penny and a former POW. The son of a local publican
Publican
In antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects...
, he joins the resistance soon after his release and involves Nick in its operations.
Matty Cordington - A friend of Nick Penny and Roy Locke. The son of a wealthy local landowner, he was awarded the MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
during the invasion. After his return from a POW camp he joins Nick and Roy in the resistance.
Generalleutnant Kurt von Glass - Provincial governor of the Westgau, the German-established province (gau) encompassing the West Country. A Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n, he is not overtly supportive of the Nazis but is proud of his country's military achievements.
Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Stolz - The security chief of the Westgau, he is a cold blooded member of the SS who holds the British people in contempt and desires the destruction of the British resistance.
Joan Pendleton - Nick's sister, who was married to a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer before the war. He was killed in mid-1940 when his destroyer, HMS Greyhound
HMS Greyhound (H05)
HMS Greyhound was a G-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s. Greyhound participated in the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, the Dunkirk evacuation in May and the Battle of Dakar in September before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November...
went down fighting.
Margaret Penny - Nick's mother, who appears increasingly withdrawn from reality as a consequence of the losses she has suffered from the German invasion.
David Pendleton - Joan's naïve young son. He is very adventurous and eager to kill Germans.
John Mills - A former colonel in the British Army, he is a leading member of the resistance.
Sara Burskin - A Polish refugee who accompanies Matty Cordington upon his return from the POW camp. The two share a strained relationship and she is eager to be involved in resistance activities.
Jacob & Miriam Jenner - A Jewish couple who own a tea room in town. It was Jacob who first interested Nick Penny in the German language as a young boy.
Hubert Leech - A newsagent
Newsagent
A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
who profits from the war and occupation, taking advantage of Nazi persecutions of Jewish businesses to purchase the Jenners' tea room.
Hauptmann Hauser - Glass's aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
.
Sergeant Bliecher - A member of the Abwehr who tries to break up the local resistance.
Awards
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with...
.
>Past Sidewise award honorees, Accessed 2008-07-04
See also
- It Happened HereIt Happened HereIt Happened Here is a 1966 British film, directed by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo. It is set in an alternate history in which Nazi Germany successfully invades and occupies the United Kingdom during World War II.-Setting:...
- 1945 (novel)1945 (novel)1945 is an alternate history co-authored by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen in 1995, describing the period immediately after World War II wherein the United States had fought only against Japan, allowing Nazi Germany to force a truce with the Soviet Union, after which the two victors...
- SS-GBSS-GBSS-GB is an alternate history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom fictionally conquered and occupied by Germany during World War II. The novel's title refers to the branch of the Nazi SS that controls Britain.-Plot summary:...
- Farthing (novel)Farthing (novel)Farthing is an alternate history novel written by Jo Walton and published by Tor Books in August, 2006. A sequel, Ha'penny, was released in October 2007 by Tor Books. A third novel in the series, Half a Crown, was released in September 2008, also from Tor.-Background:The novel is set in the 1949...