“Traitor” by new author Sandra Grey is one of the best LDS historical fiction novels I’ve ever read, and I have to tell you, I’m hard to impress. Because I myself write in the LDS historical fiction genre, I’m overly critical when it comes to analyzing the work of other authors. Sandra Grey is amazing.
Marie Jacobson is a young woman of French ancestry who wants to do her part for the cause during World War II. Her fiancé, Felix, is working with the Resistance in Europe, and Marie is eager to see him again after a long separation. A surprise opportunity gives her the chance she’s been looking for, and she goes into training to learn how to use a radio, transmit in code, and how to encrypt the message to be sent. She is then dropped into the French countryside by parachute to be collected by Felix and to begin a part of her mission he knows nothing about – to transmit messages back to her superiors.
When the Nazis close in on the Resistance group, Felix is shot. Marie holds him while he dies, unable to believe what is happening. She thought she had come to France to help save him, but all her efforts have been in vain. When she is captured by the Nazis and taken in for questioning, she is determined not to give one inch, but she’s taken aback by the interrogator.
His name is Major Rolf Schulmann, and he’s unlike any other man she’s known. He’s hard, businesslike, and to the point, but there’s a kindness that underlies everything he does. She has been warned of the brutality of the Nazi interrogation techniques, but he employs none of them on her, and becomes angry when one of the other officers strikes her. Later, while being transported to a larger prison facility, he has Marie removed from her guard’s car and placed in another, which takes her to a private villa. She is still under house arrest, but now she has a bed, clothing, and hot food.
When the Nazis come looking for her, she is moved again, to a house out in the country where a woman, man and small boy live. The boy is their nephew, and she learns to her surprise that he is Major Schulmann’s son, and they are LDS. She is touched to realize they share a faith, but wonders how he can be a Nazi major and still claim to believe in Jesus Christ. We catch a glimpse of the internal struggle Rolf faces as he tries to live his religion while being forced to do his job – the Nazi party has threatened to kill his son if he does not comply with their wishes.
This is intelligent historical fiction. Grey doesn’t pull any punches or talk down to the reader. She strikes a good balance between suspense, historical elements, and romance, keeping the tension right where it should be in each scene. This author will be one to watch.
(This book was published in 2008 by Covenant.)
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