An Post Irish Book of the Year announced

The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor has been named the An Post Irish Book of the Year, after winning The Last Word Listeners Choice Award last week.

The book was among six titles, all category winners at last weeks An Post Irish Book Awards, competing for the accolade.

Shortlisted works include Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun) by Manchán Magan, Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell, Solo by Gráinne O’Brien, Heart on My Sleeve by Andrew Porter and A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing by Sarah Corbett Lynch.

Depicting a fictionalised account of Rome under Nazi control, The Ghosts of Rome reached No. 1 in the Irish bestseller chart after three days on sale, remaining in the overall Irish Top Ten for five weeks and in the Irish Paperback Top Ten for 16 weeks.

The book is the second in O’Connor’s Escape Line Trilogy, the first novel My Father’s House was also an Irish No. 1 bestseller and has sold more than 150,000 copies in English. The last novel in the trilogy is expected to be published in early 2027.

O’Connor has authored 11 novels, including Star of the Sea, Ghost Light and Shadowplay. He has earned the Prix Zepter for European Novel of the Year, France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, an American Library Association Award and the Irish Pen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature.

Read Hot Press' interview with the author here.

"Choosing a Book of the Year was the toughest of tough tasks," said Paul Howard, Chair of the Book of the Year judging panel.

"In the end, we chose a book that we were all happy to call the Irish Book of the Year. It's a beautiful piece of writing as well as a thrilling piece of historical fiction. In dealing with the theme of good people standing up to the evils of Fascism, it has strong resonance for the times in which we are living."