However, I would still recommend this book for the way in which O'Connor brings history to life - Monsignor O'Flaherty is one of those rare, real-life heroes whose story deserves to be remembered. This annoys not only the nazis but also incurs the wrath of the Vatican, worried about their neutral status.

My father’s house’ is a literary thriller, based loosely on a true story, and knowing this makes me want to investigate further.I’m happy I investigated this ‘great escape’ novel set in the Vatican during WW2 and featuring an Irishman and an escape route I’d never heard of before. To say I was disappointed in their reticence was an understatement, but Mr O'Connor made me understand the why of that. The mission is to smuggle Jews and escaped Allied prisoners out of Italy to safety - all this under the ever watchful eyes of the Nazis, and one Nazi in particular, Obersturmbannfurher Paul Hauptmann. There are also brilliant little details about life in neutral Vatican City such as the fact it was necessary for residents to apply for a haircut pass the leave its boundaries. 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.

I tried taking this one in smaller bites and just reading a few pages a night, but it didn't work for me. The goal of their mission was to help Jews, escaped Allied prisoners and diplomats escape from the persecution of the Nazis and escape from Italy. Or the Italian-American slang of Enzo Angeluccio or the Cockney accent and sardonic asides of John May.

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.

How they were able to pull the wool over the ever-watchful eyes of Obersturmbannführer Paul Hauptman. An interesting aspect of this book, for me, involved the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Nazi aggressors.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. That book utilised a number of structural techniques including diary entries, letters and transcripts of conversations as well as more traditional third person narration, and the same is true of this latest novel. The Holocaust, the devastation of war and the plight of civilians unable to escape war-torn lands are always deeply affecting. The story is set in Nazi-occupied Rome during December 1943 and unfolds as a countdown towards 'a mission'.