Books: ‘The Ghosts of Rome’

I recently finished reading The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor.

This is the sequel to 2023’s My Father’s House, continuing the story of the Rome Escape Line, which helped escaped POWs remain in hiding or safely flee Italy altogether. Most of the major characters from the first book return in this one, but while the first book revolved around Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, this book revolves more around another of O’Flaherty’s Escape Line cohorts (aka ‘The Choir’), Contessa Giovanna ‘Jo’ Landini.

SS Commander Paul Hauptmann is under increasing pressure from Berlin to stop The Choir’s activities and arrest the members. Though this proves difficult since The Choir operates from within the Vatican, Hauptmann is rumored to have persuaded one or more individuals to become informers. With his wife and children ordered to remain in Berlin, a desperate Hauptmann grows more brazen in his efforts.

Meanwhile, an Allied pilot is shot down and critically injured. His presence — and the ensuing debate over just how far The Choir should go to save his life — puts the Escape Line’s operators’ own lives at risk.

Like My Father’s House, this novel is based on actual events and individuals, many of which retain their real names in the story. In fact, I discovered that one of these individuals, Lt. Col. Sam Derry, published a memoir of his experience, The Rome Escape Line, in 1960.

Goodreads currently gives The Ghosts of Rome an average rating of 4.08, and I enjoyed it very much.