''Traitor'' is a 2007 novel by New Zealand author

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley (born 1955) is a New Zealand novelist. Daisley won the 2011 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction for his novel ''Traitor'' and the Ockham New Zealand Book Award, 2016, for his second novel ''Coming Rain.'' Biography ...

. It won the Prime Minister's Literary Award in Australia in 2011 for Best Fiction.

Plot summary

Young New Zealand soldier David Monroe is fighting at Gallipoli in World War I when he meets a Turkish doctor, Mohammad. As they tend to a wounded soldier a bomb bursts nearby and both are sent to an army hospital on the island of Lemnos. The novel explores the growing friendship between the two men, and two cultures, as they recover from their wounds.

Notes

* Dedication: Dedicated to the memory of C.A. Daisley - née Lal Radcliffe 1920-2009 * Epigraph: "I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I would have the guts to betray my country." - E.M. Forster

Review

James Bradley in ''The Australian'' noted: "At its best, Daisley's prose possesses a shimmering, allusive beauty reminiscent of John McGahern. Sequences such as the stunning description of the ageing David's journey out into a rainy morning to supervise the lambing lend the novel an almost sacred quality."

Awards and nominations

* 2010 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Fiction * 2011 shortlisted

Commonwealth Writer's Prize Commonwealth Writers (established in 2011) is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. It aims to inspire, develop and connect writers across the Commonwealth. Its flagship is a literary award for short stories, the Commonwealth Sh ...

- South East Asia and South Pacific Region — Best First Book * 2011 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Christina Stead Prize for Fiction * 2011 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — UTS Award for New Writing * 2011 winner Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Fiction * 2016 winner Ockham New Zealand Book Awards — Fiction

References

2010 novels 21st-century New Zealand novels New Zealand historical novels Novels set during World War I {{2010s-hist-novel-stub