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

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One of the standout parts of the book for me was a section entitled ‘The Hunstman’ in which the author gives us a chilling insight into Hauptmann’s domestic life in his heavily fortified home in a former museum that is almost like a prison, and to the motivation for his vile actions.

This clandestine group assists Allied POWs to escape and go into hiding to evade the clutches of the SS and Gestapo. Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It was a dangerous game they played with Hauptmann, one where their own lives would have been extinguished if found they housed and kept Jews safe.

The novel is told as a countdown to the Rendimento (whose literal meaning is performance) a daring mission which is to take place on Christmas Eve 1943. His home is Vatican City, the world's smallest state, a neutral, independent country within Rome where the occupiers hold no sway. I found this a strong work of historical fiction, strengthened by the fact that it was based on a true story, and is very much about compassion, love, faith, and resilience during the most extreme of circumstances. Diplomats, refugees, and escaped Allied prisoners flee for protection into Vatican City, at one fifth of a square mile the world’s smallest state, a neutral, independent country within Rome. The novel’s evocative scene-setting, its propulsive narration and its powerful depiction of bravery and unity in extremis, all make for an engrossing read.

I also enjoyed the dialogue in the book, wjhich often has an natural, snappy quality, and O'Connor has a great turn of phrase ('If I backed the tide it wouldn't come in, ‘if he was a banana he'd peel himself’). But Hauptmann’s net begins closing in on the Escape Line and the need for a terrifyingly audacious mission grows critical. Never has the incredible story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty been fictionalised in such a vividly immersive experience. The mission is to smuggle Jews and escaped Allied prisoners out of Italy to safety - all this under the ever watchful eyes of the Nazis, and one Nazi in particular, Obersturmbannfurher Paul Hauptmann. But, only at times, the different excerpts of the interviews that was written through out did confuse me a little bit of what the connection was.Despite the fact that this is the story of darkness that lurks therein, ultimately, it’s a story of hope.

This book is inspired by the true story of Monsignor O'Falherty,an Irish priest working in the Vatican who helped smuggle Jews and POW'S out of Italy during WW2. You don’t understand the fact that hope, if it is ever encountered, is in the small things of the everyday, not an announcement from on high. I’m happy I investigated this ‘great escape’ novel set in the Vatican during WW2 and featuring an Irishman and an escape route I’d never heard of before. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls, as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction. Although Hugh O’Flaherty is the key character I loved the way the author brought to life the other members of the group.The author slowly deals out information about our cast members, moving back and forth in time through flashbacks to events before Dec. This is book one of the Rome escape line trilogy, so I'll be looking forward to the next two release from Joseph O’Connor. How wrong they were, for the courageous Hugh tries to improve the conditions and raise the morale of the prisoners, many of whom were mere boys, whilst remorselessly castigating those running the nightmare camps. Expertly plotted… Brilliantly paced… O’Connor brings vividly to life a man who stands up to be counted. My father’s house’ is a literary thriller, based loosely on a true story, and knowing this makes me want to investigate further.