The Star on the Grave: A Novel

by Linda Margolin Royal

The incredible true story of the Japanese diplomat who defied his government to save thousands from the Nazis is now an award-winning historical novel

In 1940, as the Nazis sweep towards Lithuania, Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara defies his government and secretly issues visas to fleeing Jewish refugees. After the war Sugihara is dismissed and disappears into obscurity.

Nearly three decades later, in Australia, Rachel Margol is shocked when her engagement reveals a long-held family secret: she is Jewish. As she grapples with this deception and the dysfunction it has caused, unspoken tragedies from the past begin to come to light. When an opportunity arrives to visit Chiune Sugihara, the man who risked his life to save the Margols during World War II, Rachel becomes determined to meet him. But will a journey to Japan, and the secrets it uncovers, heal the family or fracture them for good?

The Star on the Grave is inspired by the true story of Chiune Sugihara, and the thousands of people who owe him their lives. Sugihara is often referred to as the Japanese Schindler. It is estimated that he saved 6,000 people – the author’s father and grandparents among them, and as many as 500,000 people are alive today because of him.

Winner 2025 Australian Jewish Writer Awards

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“The tale of Sugihara is extraordinary.”

—Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler’s Ark, adapted into the film, Schindler’s List

About the Author

Australian author Linda Margolin Royal makes her U.S. debut with the award-winning Australian bestseller The Star on the Grave. In 1940, her father and grandparents received life-saving transit visas from Chiune Sugihara that allowed them to enter Japan, escape the Holocaust, and settle in Australia; hundreds of other relatives were murdered in concentration camps. A graphic designer and copywriter, Royal spent thirty years in advertising in Australia and the United States. The Star on the Grave is her first novel.

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