“The Paper Man” by Billy O’Callaghan – Book Review @GodinePub @billythescribe #ThePaperMan #BookReview

When historic fiction is as properly researched and as powerfully written as “The Paper Man”, you may solely take pleasure in studying. And within the arms of Billy O’Callaghan, it is best to know immediately that you just may shed a tear or two…

It is a dual-timeline novel primarily based on actual occasions. The Thirties timeline explores the brief and illustrious lifetime of the well-known Austrian footballer Matthias Sindelar (aka the paper man), together with his nice love, Rebekah. Sindelar was voted the most effective Austrian footballer of the twentieth century in 1999 and named Austrian Sportsman of the Century a yr earlier than.

Sindelar’s beloved Rebekah, whom he by no means married, was Jewish. When Sindelar realized how tough issues have been getting for the Jews in 1938, he used his affect and connections to get her in another country and organized for her to stick with cousins ​​in Cork, Eire.

Within the Nineteen Eighties timeline, we meet Jack Shine who lives in Cork, Eire, and works as a stevedore on the Cork docks. When Jack cleans the home he lived in along with his mom, he discovers an previous shoebox stuffed with love letters, pictures and newspaper clippings. His mom by no means instructed him about his father, and she or he died of tuberculosis when Jack was solely eleven years previous. Now, as he appears by means of the letters and clippings, he realizes that his father is almost definitely the well-known footballer (i.e. soccer participant)Matthias Siindelar.

This new data turns Jack’s world on its axis. On the request of his spouse and within the firm of his father-in-law, he makes the pilgrimage again to Vienna to be taught extra in regards to the Sindelar man. He meets Sindelar’s finest pal and visits many locations frequented by males. As well as, he visited his father’s grave…

I used to be completely immersed in “The Paper Man” and was moved by the writing and the very properly drawn characters. In the event you’re a fan of historic fiction, I extremely suggest including this title to your TBR record.

This assessment was written voluntarily and my score was by no means influenced by the truth that I obtained a free digital copy of this novel at my request from David R. Godine Editors by Edelweiss.

ISBN: 9781567927856 – 248 pagesTwo of my favourite quotes from “The Paper Man”

“A marriage with out hidden areas is a gorgeous thought however ignores the truth that when all is claimed and carried out, everybody continues to be an island unto themselves and even probably the most keen and keen hearts can solely be treasured thus far open.”

“His youthful days stay with him in stark element, and within the face of this actuality the relative stasis of maturity is commonly pale compared.”

Billy O’Callaghan was born in Cork, Eire, in 1974, and is the creator of three collections of brief tales: ‘In exile‘ (2008) and ‘In too deep‘ (2009), each printed by Mercier Presse, and ‘The issues we lose, the issues we go away behind‘ (2013) printed by New Island Books, which received a Bord Gais Power Irish Guide Award and can seem in a Chinese language translation by CITIC Press in the summertime of 2017. Her first novel was ‘The home of the lifeless» and his novel «My baby from Coney Islandwas printed by HarperCollins and is on the market now. His tales have been broadcast nationally on RTÉ Radio’s ‘The Guide on One’, Sunday Miscellany and the Francis MacManus Awards collection, and have appeared in over 100 magazines and literary journals world wide. His novel, Life sentencesprinted to essential acclaim by Jonathan Cape in January 2021, and reached quantity three on the Irish fiction bestseller record.

Billy O’Callaghan lives in Douglas, a village on the outskirts of Cork Metropolis, Eire.

Observe Billy O’Callaghan on Twitter.