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

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My father's house' is set in wartime Rome, occupied by the Nazis and lead by Gestapo commander Paul Hauptmann, who takes a hands on approach to his work. I've enjoyed Joseph O'Connors work whenever I've read it over the years, starting all the way back with 'Cowboy and Indians’ and 'Desparadoes' back in the early nineties.

Four thousand frightened prisoners crammed like abused beasts, half starved, into a couple of barbed-wired stony fields.I need to read some non-fiction of this aspect of the war – there is a lot to learn and try and understand.

It also sheltered escaped POWs, Jews, and other fugitives, who were hidden and then smuggled to safety. This novel revolves around Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, based in Rome during WWII and the organiser of an escape route for prisoners of war. His books include Cowboys and Indians, Inishowen, Star of the Sea (American Library Association Award, Irish Post Award for Fiction, France's Prix Millepages, Italy's Premio Acerbi, Prix Madeleine Zepter for European novel of the year), Redemption Falls, Ghost Light (Dublin One City One Book Novel 2011) and Shadowplay (Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year, Costa Novel of the Year shortlist).I was mighty disappointed by Shadowplay but with My Father's House he is back to his storytelling best. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was committed to helping as many people escape the wrath of the Nazis as he could and get out of Italy. The Gestapo were meticulous in their surveillance of the priest and his visitors, so the tension was unbearable at times.

I loved the way the author includes passages made up of short, sharp bursts of descriptive prose that are almost like poetry. O'Connor excels at ratcheting up the tension, and paints a vivid picture of a city brought to its knees by the Nazis. 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. I tried taking this one in smaller bites and just reading a few pages a night, but it didn't work for me. There's no doubt in my mind that the Monsignor’s training prepared him to intervene in difficult situations rather than being content to remain a bystander.I read a lot of historical fiction, especially about the Holocaust and WWII, and this is one of the really good ones.

O’Connor has assembled a wonderful cast, which includes Contessa Giovanna Landini, mourning her husband; Delia Kiernan, wife of the senior Irish diplomat to the Vatican, a singer with the voice of an angel; Marianna de Vries, a freelance journalist; Enzo Angelucci, an Italian newsagent, and Major Sam Derry, an escaped British POW.

Finally, the conclusion confirmed for me that God’s hand is in everything - even events we could never imagine happening.