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WINNER OF IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025

‘As thrilling, beautiful and sensational a novel as you’ll read this year or any year’ Sunday Times

February 1944. Six months since Nazi forces occupied Rome.

Inside the war-torn city, the Contessa Giovanna Landini works for the band of Escape Line activists known as ‘the Choir’. Her mission is to smuggle Allied soldiers to safety, all under the nose of Gestapo boss Paul Hauptmann.

During a ferocious morning air raid a mysterious parachutist lands in Rome and disappears into the backstreets. Is he an ally or an imposter? His fate will come to put the whole Escape Line at risk.

Meanwhile, Hauptmann’s attention has landed on the Contessa. As his fascination grows, she is pulled into a dangerous game with him – one where the consequences could be lethal.

‘A superb testament to humankind’s bravery and resilience…moving and immersive’ Guardian, Books of the Year

‘Tremendous and terrifying’ Fintan O’Toole, Irish Times Books of the Year

‘A stellar piece of storytelling’ Daily Mail

‘Not just a wartime thriller, but a meditation on how we remember, how we resist and how, even in the darkest times, humanity endures’ New York Times

Publisher Review

A superb testament to humankind’s bravery and resilience…moving and immersive * Guardian, Books of the Year * Tremendous and terrifying — Fintan O’Toole * Irish Times Books of the Year * The tension doesn’t slack an inch… It is haunting, sensuous and immaculately constructed – without sacrificing any thrills * Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2025* * The Ghosts of Rome is both a tribute to the imagination and courage of his remarkable team [of The Escape Line] and a riveting thriller * Times Literary Supplement * Blazes with imaginative flair and narrative energy… packed with sensuously evoked reminders of Rome’s rich past…haunted and haunting * Sunday Times * There is no finer writer of historical fiction than Joseph O’Connor. . . Beautifully written, warm and witty, this story of a terrorised city is a must-read. Thrilling, terrifying and entertaining in equal measure. — Liz Nugent, Number One Bestselling author of STRANGE SALLY DIAMOND [A] vivid and moving story, with O’Connor seamlessly combining real characters with imagined ones * Guardian * As thrilling, beautiful and sensational a novel as you’ll read this or any year — Donal Ryan * Sunday Times * Digs ever deeper into the lives of the everyday heroes of a war-ravaged city, unearthing stories of remarkable courage and ingenuity that glitter from the pages of this tense, polyphonic narrative — Sarah Gilmartin A stellar piece of storytelling. O’Connor brilliantly captures the sense of the city and its inhabitants in peril * Daily Mail *