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. Top-notch blend of action-thriller and introspective literary fiction, based on real people and events. With his help, guidance and leadership thousands of Jews, Allied prisoners and diplomats were able to be smuggled out of Italy. His home is Vatican City, a neutral, independent country within Rome where the occupiers hold no sway. At any moment, the Gestapo might uncover the operation performed by a courageous, unassuming cast of remarkable characters who risked their lives for the betterment of others.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media LLC for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor through Netgalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. Working in real time on Christmas Eve 1943 leading up to a crucial operation across Rome, the story is enhance by later interviews with some of the participants remembering their wartime exploits. Each chapter was read by one of the narrators listed above and we see the setting and atrocities through their eyes. A deadly high-stakes battle of wits ensues in this astonishing, unforgettable story of love, faith and sacrifice, exploring what it means to be truly human in the most extreme circumstances.This book is based on the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty who risked his life to save smuggle thousands of Jews and escaped Allied prisoners out of Italy. Their choir practice sessions are a front for their efforts toward devising plans to aid escaped PoWs– a mammoth task that encompasses sheltering the escapees in safe houses, acquiring travel documents in false names and arranging transport to Switzerland- a task made more difficult on account of ruthless Gestapo officer Obersturmbannfurher Paul Hauptmann, who was aware of the existence of an Escape Line and was keeping a close watch on Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty in hopes of catching him and /or his friends at the right moment. I need to read some non-fiction of this aspect of the war – there is a lot to learn and try and understand. It details raw courage and the selfish acts of all those who worked with Hugh to raise funds and find accommodation for the growing number of escapees. Life inside the Vatican is described in excellent detail as are the numerous back streets and hidden places in the city of Rome.

A very dangerous business indeed, and the most frightening illustration of the horrific danger here, is the presence of a cruel SS officer, Paul Hauptmann.A masterwork… so urgent, so incredibly alive… A searing and beautiful example of storytelling’s infinite importance. The city is occupied by German forces and the Gestapo commander, Paul Hauptmann, rules with an iron fist. All the characters are well fleshed out and the author skillfully brings all the threads of the story together weaving a cohesive, intense and suspenseful narrative that is hard to put down. The glory and the incandescence of the human spirit shines so much brighter against the darkness of the failed Fascist ideology. From the acclaimed author of Star of the Sea comes a riveting, emotionally acute novel of resistance and rescue during the Second World War as an Irish priest prepares a daring mission in Vatican City from under the noses of the Nazis.