My mother’s family – White Russians from China – had their lives turned upside down by wars and revolutions. Post-war migration to Australia changed the culture of the country. So, while there are many novels written about the tense days of the Second World War, I am particularly interested in what happened in the aftermath.

The two main characters in The French Agent – Sabine Brouillette and Diana White – are two different women with very different war experiences.

After the war, the nation was deeply divided

France experienced the war on its soil and a brutal occupation by the Germans. It was a country where most of the population passively accepted the occupation or even actively collaborated with the Nazis. The few that resisted often met with brutal torture and death. It was also a country where citizens turned on the Jewish population and offered them up for rewards to either the Germans or the French police.

By 1946, the former Allied countries were losing the will to persecute war criminals

After the war, the nation was deeply divided. Initially there were reprisals against those who had collaborated with the Germans. In The French Agent, Sabine is a former Resistance agent now working with the French Secret Service as a war crimes investigator. But by 1946, the Allied countries were losing the will to persecute war criminals. The Soviet Union was the new enemy, and Britain, France, the United States and even Australia were actively recruiting former Nazis into their intelligence services because of the information they had gathered on the Soviet Union. One arm of the French Secret Service recruited the Gestapo agent, Ernst Misselwitz, who was responsible for the torture and deaths of hundreds of Resistance agents.

It is in this atmosphere that Sabine, who has lost her entire family and dearest friends to the brutality of the Gestapo, comes across information about the traitor who betrayed her Resistance circuit. She knows she has a limited time to hunt him down and serve revenge.

Those who were lucky enough to return home, were often traumatised by their war experiences

Meanwhile across the other side of the globe in Australia, Diana White is waiting for her husband, Casper, to return home from the war in Europe. Australia didn’t experience war or atrocities on its soil. Even the food rationing wasn’t anywhere near as severe as it was in Europe. But over 1 million Australian men and women were deployed during the Second World War in Europe, North Africa and Asia. Over 27,000 died and 23,000 were wounded in action. Thousands of others experienced horrors in prisoner-of-war camps. Hundreds died in accidents or from diseases.

Those who were lucky enough to return home were often traumatised by their war experiences. It was their wives and families who were given the responsibility of helping them settle back into society.

Returned combat soldiers desperately needed professional help, but they were more or less expected to ‘buck up’ and get back into normal life

Casper returns to Diana a changed man. He is no longer the easy-going personality that she fell in love with. He is darker and more secretive. For Diana it is a confusing and frightening experience, and she worries about the effect on their young son, Freddy. The returned combat soldiers desperately needed professional help, but they were more or less expected to ‘buck up’ and get back into normal life. It must have been awful for them and for their wives who felt isolated with a problem that was impossible for them to solve, no matter how much they loved their husbands.

That’s the historical background to the novel, but of course a good story involves a gripping plot and lots of twists and turns. Sabine Brouillette suspects Casper White is the traitor she is looking for, and when she comes to Australia with the intention of killing him, she and Diana are set on a collision course. One woman seeking revenge; and the other willing to go to any lengths to protect her family.

I hope you enjoy the ride!

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