Vintage first paperback edition - 2024
Hugh Monsignor O'Flaherty (28.2.1898-30.10.1963) may not be a well-known name, even in his native Ireland - although he was the subject of a film starring Gregory Peck called The Scarlet and the Black; a book by the same name by J.P. Gallagher (2013); and another book, The Vatican Pimpernel: The Wartime Exploits of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (2014) by Brian Fleming. He is also commemorated by a grove of Italian trees planted in Killarney National Park in 1994 and a statue there unveiled in 2013 on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. O'Flaherty was rather like an Irish Oskar Schindler, saving over 6,500 lives during the Nazi occupation of Rome in the Second World War. With a group of equally brave friends, he led an escape organisation not just for Jews but Allied PoWs and other civilians, whether they were communists, atheists or religious. Having read about Pope Pius XII's vacillations (to put it mildly) during the war, it came as a pleasing relief to read about this Roman Catholic priest's never wavering dedication.
Hugh Monsignor O'Flaherty
Nicknamed The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican, O'Flaherty had toured PoW camps in Italy in the early years of the war to find out about prisoners who had been reported missing in action. If he tracked them down, he tried to reassure their families via Radio Vatican. When Mussolini was dethroned by King Victor Emmanuel in 1943, thousands of these PoWs were released or escaped, some reaching Rome. The subsequent German occupation of Italy meant their lives were again in danger. Some went to the Irish Embassy, the only English-speaking embassy to remain open during the war (I wonder why?!) Here they met Delia Murphy Kiernan (1902-1971). A well-known Irish singer, she was married to Dr. Thomas Kiernan who had been appointed Irish Minister Plenipotentiary to the Holy See in 1941.
Delia Murphy
When German troops arrive, Delia smuggled ex PoWs and others out of Rome by hiding them beneath rugs in the back of the legation's car. She was one of the tightly-knit group, going by the name of The Choir, who worked with O'Flaherty. Other important members included a British Major Sam Derry and the British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Holy See (1936-1947) Francis D'Arcy Godolphin Osborne (1884-1964), later Duke of Leeds (1963-4). The latter's butler, John May, whom O'Flaherty described as a genius...the most magnificent scrounger, was also a major figure in the group.
D'Arcy Osborne John May
The escapees were hidden in convents, flats and houses, farms and in the Vatican City itself. Apparently the secretly anti-Nazi German Ambassador to the Holy See, Baron Ernst von Weizsäcker, illegally informed O'Flaherty that he could not be arrested inside the Vatican, so the latter began to meet his contacts outside St. Peter's Basilica. Try as they might, the Gestapo failed on numerous occasions to capture or assassinate O'Flaherty.
Joseph O'Connor melds this naturally thrilling factual story with an equally exciting tale of derring-do. In addition to O'Flaherty, whom he labels as the Conductor of 'The Choir', Delia (Soprano), D'Arcy and Derry (Tenors), and May (Bass), he brings in Marianna de Vries (Soprano), The Countess Giovanna Landini (Alto) and Enzo Angelucci (Tenor). He concentrates on the period September to Christmas Eve 1943, the latter date being the Rendimento ('Performance' - i.e. of the Choir), when there was to be three major drops of cash around Rome. The author skilfully builds up the tension and the characters of each choir member. In addition, he introduces (a fictitious?) the Nazi Paul Hauptmann, who is determined not only to 'deal with' O'Flaherty but destroy the choir's operations. The section entitled The Huntsman successfully explores Hauptmann's character. by studying his relationship with his family, his interests - night fishing was a particular pleasure...the fish would be watching through the water. Light made them scatter. You needed to learn how to listen. A fairly obvious metaphor for the Choir.
O'Connor uses a slightly strange structure for relating the events of those few months. Side by side with actual descriptions of the choir meetings and the planning and the superbly created atmosphere of the Rendimento night itself, are a series of chapters which are the transcripts of BBC research interviews between November 1962 and September 1963 for a This Is Your Life programme, hosted by Eamon Andrews (remember him?!) for Sam Derry (changed from O'Flaherty as they thought his health would not stand the shock). I haven't found out whether it is just a novelist's device or it actually happened. Anyway, The Voice of Enzo Angelucci [7th/8th November 1962]; Written Statement in Lieu of an Interview by Marianna de Vries [November 1962]; The Voice of Sir D'Arcy Osborne [14th December 1962]; The Voice of Delia Kiernan [7th January 1963]; The Voice of John May [20th September 1963]; The Voice of Sam Derry [27th September 1963]. In addition, there are sections from An unpublished, undated memoir written after the war by The Contessa Giovanna Landini. Does this structure work? Its strength is that it allows the events to be viewed from all the participants; it also informs the reader what they thought of each other! It is a well-rounded approach. Of course, what it also does is to tell the reader they had all survived the war! So, no unfortunate deaths in the Choir! O'Connor's strength of narrative, of scene setting and character portrayal makes this a fine piece of 'faction'. Well worth reading.
I now find that O'Connor has written a second novel (part of a trilogy it seems) - The Ghosts of Rome, which concentrates on the Contessa Giovanna Landini and carries the story on from February 1944. It was proclaimed Irish Book of the Year in 2025. I wonder whether my daughter will buy me this one as well?!
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