A romantic novel in which a “blonde and blue-eyed Jewess” falls in love with an SS-Kommandant in Theresienstadt concentration camp has caused outrage and offence in the romance writing community after it was shortlisted for two top awards.

Kate Breslin’s For Such a Time is a riff on the Old Testament’s Book of Esther, in which the Jewish girl Hadassah, known as Esther, marries the Persian king Ahasuerus, and saves her people from a genocide. In Breslin’s version, Hadassah hides behind the identity of Stella Muller while working as a secretary for SS Kommandant Colonel Aric von Schmidt. She “finds herself battling a growing attraction for this man she knows she should despise as an enemy”, as she tries to save the camp’s prisoners. Eventually, she converts to Christianity.

For Such a Time was shortlisted for two prizes in the Romance Writers of America’s annual awards: best first book, and best “inspirational” – meaning Christian – romance earlier this year. While it did not win, the fact it was nominated for the prestigious prizes prompted Sarah Wendell, author and co-founder of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books romance website, to write to the RWA’s board of directors laying out why the decision to shortlist the novel was “so offensive and upsetting”.

“This is a romance between a Jewish prisoner and a Nazi officer who was in charge of a concentration camp. To put it mildly, I don’t see this set-up as an imbalance of power that could possibly be redeemed in a romance narrative, nor do I think the setting and characterisation is remotely romantic. But I think this issue is much larger than my individual opinion,” wrote Wendell, in a piece which has since gone viral.

“In the Holocaust, over six million Jews, and more than 17 million people in total were killed by the Nazis. In For Such a Time, the hero is redeemed and forgiven for his role in a genocide. The stereotypes, the language, and the attempt at redeeming an SS officer as a hero belittle and demean the atrocities of the Holocaust. The heroine’s conversion at the end underscores the idea that the correct path is Christianity, erases her Jewish identity, and echoes the forced conversions of many Jews before, during, and after the Holocaust.”

Wendell has also written to Breslin, and to representatives at Bethany House, the Christian publisher which released the book. “I know that books like For Such a Time by Kate Breslin do not happen in a vacuum. More than one person had to agree that this story was worth writing, worth editing, worth publishing, and then worth nominating for the RITA as Best First Book and Best Inspirational Romance. I question the judgment of those who evaluated this book in the first round, and am, to be honest, very thankful that it did not win,” she wrote. “I hope that in the future, there is a way to ensure that a book so deeply offensive and insensitive is not among those honoured as the best in romance.”

On publication last year, For Such a Time received a starred review from Library Journal, which said that “fans of historical fiction, especially those who enjoy complex dramatic stories, will want to pick up this title”, and was a “top pick” for RT Book Reviews, which said that “the compassionate soul of the protagonist set against the horrific background of second world war concentration camps provides a hauntingly beautiful portrait of the best and worst of mankind”. Breslin herself won “Christian Retailing’s 2015 Best Award for first time author”, and the novel has received almost 200 five-star reviews on amazon.com.

But since Wendell spoke out, more writers have come forward to express their anger at the novel’s storyline. “The author, Kate Breslin, co-opted the horrific, unimaginable tragedy that happened within living memory to other people to promote her own agenda (evangelical/inspirational Christianity),” wrote the author Katherine Locke. “And in doing so, she contributed to the erasure of both victims and survivors of the Holocaust.”

Locke called For Such a Time “anti-Semitic, violent, and dangerous”, saying that it “glorifies and redeems a nazi, while removing all of the Jewish woman’s agency and forcing her to convert to Christianity in order for her arc to be considered redemption. It is, in fact, exactly what has been done to the Jewish people throughout history”.

But Breslin said in a statement that her inspiration for the novel “was borne from a compassion for the Jewish people, as in reading from the Book of Esther I realized how they have suffered at the hands of one society or another throughout history”.

“It was my intent to write a book that told a more modern-day story of a courageous Jewish woman who, through strength and faith in her God, used her situation to try to save some of her beloved people – much in the way Esther saved hers,” she said. “And like that Biblical queen’s influence with King Xerxes, through her brave and sacrificial actions, she helped to bring one man to a sense of conscience, prompting him to join in the attempt to save her people.”

She added that she was “heartsick and so very sorry that my book has caused any offense to the Jewish people, for whom I have the greatest love and respect.”

The RWA’s board of directors said in a statement that it had received a “great deal of heartfelt and moving feedback” about some of this year’s finalists, but that “discussions about content restrictions inevitably lead to concerns about censorship”.

“Censoring entry content is not something the board supports. If a book is banned from the contest because of its content, there will be a move for more content to be banned. This is true, even especially true, when a book addresses subjects that are difficult, complex, or offensive,” said the organisation, which has now opened a forum for members to discuss their concerns online. “This is not a perfect solution, but we believe open dialogue, not the censorship of content, is the right way to handle the issues expressed.”