Book description
From the bestselling author of the Dalziel and Pascoe series, a superb
novel of wartime passion, loyalty - and betrayal
When Janine Simonian was dragged roughly from her cell to face trial as
a collaborator in the days of reckoning that followed the liberation of
France, she refused to conceal her shaven skull from the jeering crowds
that greeted her.
Before the jury of former Resistance members pledged to extract
vengeance on all who had connived in Nazi rule, Janine stood proudly in
court - and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Why did so many French men and women collaborate with the Nazi
occupation forces whilst others gave their lives in resistance? Were the
motives of those who betrayed their country always selfish - and those
of the Resistance always noble?
The Collaborators is a superb novel of conscience and betrayal that
portrays the human dilemmas brought about by the Nazi occupation of
France, and asks uncomfortable questions about the priorities of
personal and national loyalty in time of war. Praise for 'The Collaborators':
'A gripping and atmospheric period thriller.' Daily Mail
'Hill probes the human heart and the way it shifts with the changing
demands and temptations of the Occupation in this subtle, complex and
powerful novel whose issues are all too present today.” Oxford Times
'One of the most consistently excellent crime novelists' Times
'Few writers in the genre today have Hill's gifts: formidable
intelligence, quick humour, compassion and a prose style that blends
elegance and grace' Donna Leon, Sunday Times
'The fertility of Hill's imagination, the range of his power, the sheer
quality of his literary style never cease to delight' Val McDermid,
Sunday Express
'Probably the best living male crime writer in the English-speaking
world' Andrew Taylor, Independent
'Reginald Hill's novels are really dances to the music of time, his
heroes and villains interconnecting, their stories entwining' Ian
Rankin, Scotland on Sunday
'Reginald Hill is on of the finest crime writers ever' Sunday Telegraph
Reginald Hill was brought up in Cumbria, and has returned there after
many years in Yorkshire. With his first crime novel, A Clubbable Woman,
he was hailed as 'the crime novel's best hope' and twenty years on he
has more than fulfilled that prophecy.
