“During the nine-month occupation of Rome, eighteen hundred Roman Jews were deported to the death camps. Fewer than twenty returned.”

Based on true events, My Father’s House by Joseph O' Connor, the first in his Rome Escape Line Trilogy, is a fictionalized account of a secret mission (codename Redimento) carried out by Monsignor Hugh O’ Flaherty, an Irish Catholic priest, and his trusted accomplices during WWII. A few years prior to the events of 1943, as an official Vatican visitor, O’Flaherty had been assigned to visit an Italian concentration camp for British PoWs. He was deeply affected by the plight of the prisoners, the filthy conditions of the camps and the inhuman treatment meted out to the prisoners by their Nazi captors. O Flaherty’s anti-Nazi stance earns him the ire of his superiors at The Vatican, which pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II, but does not deter his efforts in doing as much he could for those in need of his help.

“I have come to see neutrality is the most extremist stance of all; without it, no tyranny can flourish.”

Under the guise of a “Choir”, Monsignor Hugh and seven others, each from different walks of life, operate an “Escape Line”. 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.

With beautiful prose and vivid imagery, author Joseph O' Connor has done a superb job of transporting the reader to Nazi-occupied Rome. The narrative is shared between multiple perspectives across dual timelines. In the 1943 timeline, we follow Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty and his Choir in the days leading up to Rendimento (Christmas Eve, 1943). Other details pertaining to the mission and the participants can be gathered from written statements, pages from an unpublished memoir and interview transcripts of the choir members twenty years after the events (1962-63)which are interspersed throughout the narrative. 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. Ultimately this is a story of immense bravery, sacrifice and hope.

“You don’t understand the fact that hope, if it is ever encountered, is in the small things of the everyday, not an announcement from on high. In the aroma of cooking, a phrase from Vivaldi. A handclasp. A conversation.”

Reading stories set in WWII Europe is never easy. The Holocaust, the devastation of war and the plight of civilians unable to escape war-torn lands are always deeply affecting. I appreciate stories that shed light on that era, even more so when I’m learning something new from them. I had been unaware of the Rome Escape Line and Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty before reading this book. The author also references true events such as the Ardeatine Massacre of 1944. The Author’s Note provides a list of references for those who want to read more about the true events that inspired this novel. This is my first time reading this author and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future. 

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.