So looking forward to reading this novel as I love Joseph O’Conner but unfortunately due to numerous missing letters it was impossible to read.

Unfortunately I can’t leave an accurate review, as the copy I downloaded on NetGalley was unfortunately not easy to read. It was one of the most tricky reads in a long time although the story I read up to seemed very interesting, all the more interesting as it was factual and based on events.
I did not get to unfortunately finish this book due to the above.

I hope to be able to download another copy soon, and will leave an accurate review on Amazon once it is released and I am able to read it.

It was a dicult read. A novel about Hugh O'aherty, quite rened. Need I dene what was dicult about it? I know cartographers include map traps or even street traps to be able to prove plagiarism but removing any string of 'fi's, 'fl's, 'ffi's or 'ffl's in a word throughout this whole novel was positively annoying. The most challenging word was reies, which I took to mean fireflies! I can only think it was done to avoid wholesale copying.
Moan over, let me give you my impression of the book. Firstly, it would have been beneficial if I had a grasp of the Italian language as there are quite a few passages without translation. Setting that aside, Joseph O'Connor does a marvellous job of setting the scene. I feel I almost know the place although I have never been. Let me quote a passage, "Ardent lovers, hand in hand, glitter-eyed and gesturing, alive in the radiance of their need for one another". So beautifully put together, I think we can all imagine a walk by the Tiber and seeing Italian lovers like that. The bulk of the novel is set in Rome during the occupation and it highlights the strange relationship between the Vatican City and Rome itself, the former pursuing a policy of neutrality and the latter under the rule of Mussolini and Hitler. O'Flaherty blurrs the sometimes very physical line between the two in his efforts to help escaping soldiers and airmen, or persecued Jews. He certainly doesn't have the backing of the Pope as the two had quite a showdown. There seems to be a preference to preserve history and piety in the Vatican than help those in desperate need. Throughout the novel there is the constant feeling that O'Flaherty will fall foul of the sadistic SS officer Paul Hauptmann, a man determined to break the Escape Line. Something that makes Hauptmann even more chilling was that he served as a technical draughtsman with the Berlin electricity authority. A draughtsman one minute and monster the next.
The conclusion of the novel covers the post war period and it's rather flat. However, I guess in being so, it is possibly accurate. People pitched together in adversity, suddenly losing their reason to struggle, must find readjustment terribly difficult and certainly a little dull.
An interesting novel set in grim period.

Sadly, I was unable to read this, as the typos in the proof copy made it too disjointed to read. I did try, and think it is the letter fl that are missing. .

I'm sorry but it appears like others that I did not receive a readable download so regretfully unable to continue. Can this be corrected? Will give 3* out of fairness.

I'm sorry, but this book and I just didn't gel. There's something about O'Connor's style that makes me feel I'm struggling through treacle - there's so much padding, so much that is irrelevant, so many switching voices between the host of 'quirky' characters reminiscing from the standpoint of the mid -1960s, interspersed with the 'present' in 1943. There's a countdown to a big mission, and the narrative moves between the Irish priest, the Nazi commander in Rome, and various other characters.

I'm no expect but I felt that the complicated history of Italy during WW2 wasn't done justice to. After all, Mussolini has founded the Italian fascist party in 1919, was Prime Minister of a fascist government from 1922 till he was removed by the fascist Grand Council in 1943 by an effective no confidence vote. The king of Italy agreed an armistice with the Allied forces and the Nazis invaded Italy later that year. Despite this long-time fascist history in Italy, I felt that this book gave the impression of it being a France or Netherlands where there was resistance against the Nazis - it was far more complex in Italy with something close to civil war.

So I'm afraid this didn't work for me in terms of writing style, or in the simplifying of complex politics - sorry.

ps. To readers complaining about the missing letters, the ARC reads perfectly via the Shelf app.

This is an incredible story set in Rome during World War II about a very courageous priest who helped hide a number of POWs and Jews and basically saved their lives from the Nazis. He did all this with the help of an eclectic group of friends who risked their lives multiple times for this cause.

This story was beautifully written with such vivid descriptions that I could almost experience the sights and sounds I was reading about. This book does a really good job of building tension by interchanging the story with commentary/recollections from members of the ‘Choir’ so it’s very difficult to tell how it was going to end. I was anxious till the end because the possibility of getting caught was palpable. I could almost sympathise with Hauptmann in the end which is a testament to the author’s ability to portray 3D characters on the page. I sometimes got lost in the descriptions of scenes/settings but that was not necessarily a bad thing.

This is my first book by Joseph O’Connor and I enjoyed his writing style. This book has made me curious to learn more about Monsignor O’Flaherty and all the courageous people who risked their lives to help him. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This review is my own.

Sorry cannot provide a review as the download makes this novel unreadable. Perhaps I could try again if problem can be sorted out.

I have always enjoyed Joseph O’Connor’s books, so I was excited to receive his latest for review. This novel revolves around Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, based in Rome during WWII and the organiser of an escape route for prisoners of war. The story has a good sense of place and emergency but is also interspersed with transcripts of interviews for the other members of O’Flaherty’s ‘Choir,’ which is the cover for his activities. These transcripts both deepen the sense of character and also bring about a tension as you try to piece together what will happen on the plan for Christmas Eve, 1943, when a major plan is about to unfold.

We learn of how Hugh O’Flaherty upsets both the Vatican, by his open dissent against the agreed neutrality, and that of his nemesis, Obersturmbannfuhrer, Paul Hauptmann. Hauptmann is menacing indeed, but also has a weakness, which is his love for his wife and family. The glimpses of his human side are shocking, alongside his brutal behaviour and casual violence, while you feel his obsession with O’Flaherty and the mind games he uses against him, highlight O’Flaherty’s essential strength. An excellent novel and one I recommend highly. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Joseph O’ Connor is the consummate creator of historical fiction. My Father’s House continues this path of excellence .Hugh O’ Flaherty is an Irish priest based within the Vatican City during the Second World War and the German invasion. This taut tale tells the story of a mission set on a Christmas Eve in 1943 when the members of a ‘ choir’ ,led by Hugh , work together to support what is known as the ‘escape line ‘ under the guise of a Rendimento - a performance .The story is told through alternating chapters of the events in 1943 and interspersed with the personal reflections and interviews of those involved .The team are full of fascinating characters all beautifully realised. O’ Flaherty’s nemesis is the SS leader Hauptmann who is determined to control Rome with a firm hand of terror and also discover what the Irish representative to the Vatican is doing and ultimately bring him to ‘ justice ‘ This is an excellent read - a thriller that pulls you and builds up the tension - but it is through the almost poetic prose that creates the beauty and danger within Rome that lifts this novel to quality read that Joseph O’Connor is renowned for. A novel of power and importance that demands we do not forgot those who sacrificed and risked so much for justice

Well researched and vividly told, this is a thrilling and fascinating story of a resistance movement working out of the Vatican in Rome during the German occupation in the second World War. I was intrigued by the diversity of the group that came together to support escaped prisoners, the intricate details of their operations and the network of underground support that they had to rely on albeit somewhat tentatively at times. The risks of exposure were great and never underestimated, the courage and bravery of 'the choir' never glorified. Tensions and emotions are heightened when things do not go according to plan and Hauptmann's obsession with the troublesome Monsignore reaches a climax. I liked the way that some of the motives and experiences were explored through later recollections although it was not always immediately clear who the narrator was, some characters being more memorable and having more impact than others. The mystery of how and why these later recollections were collected was revealed at the end which I found a little incongruous although evidently as true to reality as the rest of the story. Having enjoyed the narrative thus far, I felt a bit let down by the closing scenes but relished the final revelations. A wonderful and moving story from a skilled storyteller.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This is a great book, based on the resistance in Rome. Joseph O’Connor writes so vividly that I was in a state of nerves for a lot of the book worrying about Father Hugh. The story unfolds as it is told from different viewpoints and in different times and through it all, the character of an Irish priest, from a remote corner of Eire, shines like a beacon of bravery and honour. There are some pleasing twists and turns too, right until the very end. Riveting.