My Father's House: AS SEEN ON BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS (The Rome Escape Line, 1)

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Regardless, it was quite interesting and compelling due to the author's writing and treatment of the subject matter (WWII, Holocaust), which includes an IRL Irish Monsignor stationed in Rome who helped Jews and other escapees flee the Nazis. Hugh O'Flaherty who, along with a cast of several others plus the inhabitants of Rome played a central role in getting escapees and the like put from under the noses of the Nazis during the occupation. While I feel two stars is appropriate from me, don't be turned away if you can follow the narration.

He's already on Hauptmann's deadly hitlist after he visits a POW camp and, horrified by the conditions of the prisoners, insists on giving them treats and water. The Choir members all came from different social, ethnic and political backgrounds, but they were all united in their desire to save human beings from the Nazis. O’Connor’s own distinctive phrases are imbued with a gleeful irreverence: a cardinal is described as “a long drink of cross-eyed, buck-toothed misery if ever there was, he’d bore the snots off a wet horse”, wWhile a confident woman could “sell a double bed to the Reverend Mother”.A small band of unlikely friends led by this courageous Irish priest is drawn into deadly danger as they seek to help those seeking refuge and escape. I have watched this film so many times and of all the WW2 stories this one breaks my heart each time. My only previous experience of Joseph O’Connor’s work is his novel Shadowplay, a fictionalized account of the life of Bram Stoker which was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Fiction 2020. The author slowly deals out information about our cast members, moving back and forth in time through flashbacks to events before Dec.

His torture chambers are housed in the former German Cultural Institute, “his favoured interrogation tool is the blowtorch”. Never has the incredible story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty been fictionalised in such a vividly immersive experience.All the while the members of the choir are working on the plans for forthcoming missions they are mindful of the risks they are running. What a read – what a story, this piece of historical fiction is based on real events using fictional characters created by amalgamating real players of this period of WWII Rome.

I tried taking this one in smaller bites and just reading a few pages a night, but it didn't work for me. However, these sections sometimes feel like a cheat in that they are used to convey information that these individuals wouldn't have been privy to. His response was in line with his value system, seeing the persecuted as humans deserving of help, regardless of their background. Their cover is a choir and the choristers are Delia Kieran, wife to the senior Irish diplomat at the Vatican, Marianna de Vries, a Dutch, freelance journalist, Sir D’Arcy Osborne, the British ambassador, Enzo Angelucci, former new stand owner, Sam Derry, an escaped British prisoner of war, John May is the resourceful man servant to the ambassador, Contessa Giovanna Landini, a widow, and the “conductor” is Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty.The atmosphere in Rome is incredibly tense and the stunning and beautiful city provides such a contrast to the horrors of Nazi occupation. This read of historical fiction, based upon the true story of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, is a literary thriller. The danger and peril was ever so real and the author does an excellent job of showing the reader that with scenes that set one's heart beating faster. I was held captive with O’Connor’s premise; a choir conductor and choir preparing for a performance!