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

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His home is Vatican City, the world’s smallest state, a neutral, independent country within Rome where the occupiers hold no sway. In a narrative that shifts from 1943 and the future, we are given insights and experiences of the period through the perspectives in the 1960s of the widely disparate and fascinating cast of the Choir, that included the likes of Sir Guy D'Arcy Osborne, the wily John May who can get his hands on almost anything, the beautiful and grieving Contessa Landini and 40 year old singer and diplomat's wife, Delia Kiernan.

From ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and ‘Desperadoes’ back in my early university days, to ‘Star of the sea’ which he still gets letters about every week, to ‘Ghost light’ ‘Redemption falls’ - so many cracking reads over the years.The Author’s Note provides a list of references for those who want to read more about the true events that inspired this novel.

His sources include O’Flaherty’s unpublished papers, letters, diaries, telegrams and journalism, as well as a joke borrowed from the late Dave Allen. This formidable talent for writing across genres is reflected in his masterly 10th novel, which should reap similar plaudits. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to audibly read and review My Father's House.

The glory and the incandescence of the human spirit shines so much brighter against the darkness of the failed Fascist ideology. I’d never heard of ‘the Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican’ before and was curious as to how he hid and protected so many from the Nazis. I paired my reading with the superb full-cast narration - featuring Barry Barnes, Stephen Hogan , Barnaby Edwards , Laurence Bouvard , Aoife Duffin , Gertrude Toma , David John , Roberto Davide and Thomas Hill -that made for an immersive experience. They recount their experiences by means of transcripts of interviews recorded twenty years after the events in question allowing the reader to hear the distinctive voices the author has created for them.

This is a great book and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in history or Mr O'Connor's work or even those who simply enjoy a very well written piece of historical fiction. But Hauptmann’s net begins closing in and the need for a terrifyingly audacious mission grows critical. Vatican City was supposedly neutral but during WWII plans were put in place where Jews and allied troops were smuggled to safety.Through Monsignor O'Flaherty and the others, I came to know what life was like in that tiny enclave of one hundred nine acres and what courage under fire truly looks like.