The Ghosts Of Rome

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

February 1944. Six months since Nazi forces occupied Rome.

Inside the beleaguered city, the Contessa Giovanna Landini is a member of the band of Escape Line activists known as ‘The Choir’. Their mission is to smuggle refugees to safety and help Allied soldiers, 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.

© Joseph O'Connor 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

The tension doesn’t slack an inch… It is haunting, sensuous and immaculately constructed — without sacrificing any thrills
Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2025*
[A] vivid and moving story, with O’Connor seamlessly combining real characters with imagined ones
Guardian
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
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
Blazes with imaginative flair and narrative energy... packed with sensuously evoked reminders of Rome's rich past...haunted and haunting
Sunday Times
Tremendous and terrifying
Irish Times Books of the Year
As thrilling, beautiful and sensational a novel as you'll read this or any year
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
It was hard to turn pages fast enough to keep up with the rapid-fire pace of The Ghosts of Rome. Joseph O'Connor lures readers into a little known, but important, facet of World War II history and keeps them hooked until the very last page.
Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Woodyjim07 28/07/2025
5.0
5.0
A superb narration to a sequel to the excellent My Father’s House. This book has the same heroic, if flawed, characters plus a few new ones, their exploits beautifully rendered. Highly recommended.
debbyk 19/02/2025

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