My Father's House by Joseph O’Connor
In this gripping novel, Joseph O’Connor weaves a tale inspired by the true story of Hugh O’Flaherty, a Catholic priest who defied the Nazis in Rome during World War II. Set in 1943, the novel introduces us to a cast of unlikely conspirators gathered under the tutelage of Monsignor O’Flaherty, known as the Choir. Their mission? To run the Escape Line, helping thousands of Allied men escape from Nazi-occupied Rome.
O’Connor endows his fictionalized version of O’Flaherty with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the boltholes and rabbit warrens of Rome and Vatican City. The Vatican’s supposed neutrality in the war, echoed by that of Ireland, adds to the intrigue.
This is an absorbing, mysterious, and brilliantly plotted tale that reminds us that preventing evil often requires extraordinary actions.
