My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor

Book Blurb

September 1943: German forces occupy Rome. SS officer Paul Hauptmann rules with terror.

An Irish priest, Hugh O’Flaherty, dedicates himself to helping those escaping from the Nazis. His home is Vatican City, a neutral, independent country within Rome where the occupiers hold no sway. He gathers a team to set up an Escape Line.

But Hauptmann’s net begins closing in and the need for a terrifyingly audacious mission grows critical. By Christmas, it’s too late to turn back.

Based on a true story, My Father’s House is a powerful thriller from a master of historical fiction. It is an unforgettable novel of love, sacrifice and what it means to be human in the most extreme circumstances.

My Review
Having read a few of Joseph O’Connor’s previous books I was really excited when I learned of his new book My Father’s House. This book is based on the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, a Vatican Priest who helped escaped prisoners of war and Jews get out of Rome after it was occupied by the German forces. This thriller takes a fictional look at this peice of history, the network that he set up and the build up to an important missiom on Christmas Eve 1943.

As an historical figure Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty is fascinating and incredibly brave. In his role as a Priest in the Vatican, he was sent to visit Prisoners of War in the concentration camps, where he saw autorities against humanity that set him on the path to helping escaped prisoners. His actions saw him disciplined by the Pope but he was prepared to risk it all in the fight against the Nazi’s, and one in particular SS Paul Hauptmann who has the priest in his sights.

The book is split into two narratives, one in the build up to the mission on Christmas Eve 1943, and the other through transcriptions who helped O’Flaherty in his ‘Choir’, the code name for the network that he managed to set up. These people were a diverse bunch, a British Ambassador and his assistant, a Contessa, a Diplomat’s wife, an esaped POW to name just a few. It was humbling to read how all these people were putting their lives on the line for the mission, and in particular for the Monsignor. The build up to the mission on Christmas Eve is fraught with tension as from the first few pages we are aware that there is already a huge problem that puts the whole thing in jeopardy. As the hours counted down I found my heart in my mouth as the plot follows the operaion across Rome, in the dead of night, against curfew and all the time the fear of being caught.

Joseph O’Connor’s writing is evocative and atmospheric, capturing the nuances of each character, their very individual personalities and the zeitgeist of Rome being occupied by the Nazis, whose actions were cruel and evil. What also struck me was the description of the Vatican City itself, a place I know well as its a favourite place to visit. This wasn’t the beautiful architecture and Renaissance states that I know, instead there were neglected chaples, broken statues, damp and cramped conditions for those living there, but also a place of safety and neutrality; an Island in the centre of Rome that the Nazi’s can’t touch.

My Father’s House is an icredible read, full of suspense, fear on behalf of the characters and edge of your seat tension. What makes it even more incredible is that it is based on a true story, where Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty and his ‘Choir’ showed their bravery and courage in the face of danger to help prisoners escape. I found myself fully invested in this story, in the lives of the characters and in their work with the Choir so much so that I read this book in two days, which is fast for me at the moment. It seems this maybe the first in a trilogy so I look forward with great anticipation to the next book.

I would like to thank Europa Editions via NetGalley for my copy of this book in return for my honest review.