Displaced: A Novel

Echoing the fiction of Joseph Kanon, Alan Furst, and Daniel Silva, this deeply intelligent debut literary thriller—set within a world still reeling from World War II—explores how the actions of a few can change the course of history.

British-occupied Palestine, 1946: Elderly writer Elias Lind isn’t convinced by reports that his scientist brother, Raphael, died in a concentration camp. Too frail to search for Raphael himself, Elias persuades a contact in the Jewish resistance to send someone in his place.

Lilya joined the resistance movement to help form a new state, not to waste her time on a fruitless chase across a war-ravaged continent at the request of a frail, most likely delusional, old man. As her comrades make their final preparations for a major operation, a bitter Lilya must accept her orders and embark on her journey to Europe. She is traveling as a member of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, one of the largest aid organizations for Jewish survivors—many of whom survived the Nazis only to find themselves with no family or home to return to. If Raphael is alive, odds are she will find him among the refugees trapped in displaced persons camps and prevented from immigrating to Palestine by the British.

Lilya’s search leads her from the hushed corridors of London’s Whitehall, home to the British Secret Intelligence Service, to the haunted, rubble-strewn strasses of Munich and Berlin. Visiting Föhrenwald, an overcrowded and underfunded DP camp, she makes a breakthrough. But Lilya isn’t the only person pursuing the missing man. Someone has been mirroring her every move—a dangerous adversary who will go to drastic lengths to find Raphael first.

A deeply intelligent debut thriller—set within a world still reeling from World War II—That explores how the actions of a few can change the course of history

British-occupied Palestine, 1946: Elderly writer Elias Lind isn’t convinced by reports that his scientist brother, Raphael, died in a concentration camp. Too frail to search for Raphael himself, Elias persuades a contact in the Jewish resistance to send someone in his place.

However, Lilya joined the resistance movement to help form a new state, not to waste her time on a fruitless chase across a war-ravaged continent at the request of a weak, most likely delusional old man. As her comrades make their final preparations for a major operation, a bitter Lilya must accept her orders and embark on a journey to Europe. She is traveling as a member of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, one of the largest aid organizations for Jewish survivors—many of whom survived the Nazis only to find themselves with no family or home to return to.  

Lilya’s search leads her from the hushed corridors of London’s Whitehall, home to the British Secret Intelligence Service, to the haunted, rubble-strewn streets of Munich and Berlin. Visiting Föhrenwald, an overcrowded and underfunded displaced persons camp, she makes a breakthrough. But Lilya isn’t the only person pursuing the missing man. Someone has been mirroring her every move—a dangerous adversary who will go to drastic lengths to find Raphael first.

“A character-based thriller set amongst the dispossessed. Well-researched and engrossing.” - Irish Examiner

“An exciting and compelling story about people in ‘ruptured times.’. . . While it is firmly set in the summer of 1946, it has resonance for the risk and courage of the displaced of our own troubled era.” - Jewish Chronicle

“Exciting and worldly-wise, a tale about people in Palestine and a post-war Germany razed to the ground looking for their roots and identity. I devoured Displaced.” - Jan-Philip Sendker, author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

“German debut author Abarbanell has written an engaging, plot-driven tale set during the early years of post–World War II Europe.” - Library Journal