Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of An Incidental Nazi by Catherine Gillard. This story is published by Histria Fiction, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding original works of fiction.
Inspired by true events, An Incidental Nazi follows Austrian choirboys stranded in Australia by the outbreak of the Second World War, and a young Melbourne woman drawn into their choirmaster’s troubled orbit. Its distinctive setting brings the war into boarding houses, cathedral rehearsals and family arguments, where belonging depends on more than a passport. Gillard places the beauty of the boys’ singing beside the prejudices and private bargains of the adults responsible for them. Music offers companionship and status, but no exemption from politics, ambition or cruelty.Â
Catherine Gillard is a fiction writer and screenwriter based in Fremantle, Western Australia, whose work explores complex characters and morally ambiguous worlds with empathy, irony and insight. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Western Australia, and her short fiction has appeared in Verge and SWAMP. Her debut science fiction novel, Eternal Sunsets, explores ageing and ageism. Her screen projects in development include Bailed Out, which received development funding from Screenwest, and Big State, selected for Screenwest’s 2025 Telenavigator initiative. She shares her home with a menagerie of rescue animals, who often find their way into her stories.
