“The Paper Man” by Billy O’Callaghan – Book Review

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

This can be a dual-timeline novel primarily based on actual occasions. The Nineteen 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 one of the best Austrian footballer of the twentieth century in 1999 and named Austrian Sportsman of the Century a 12 months earlier than.

Sindelar’s beloved Rebekah, whom he by no means married, was Jewish. When Sindelar realized how troublesome issues had 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 When Jack cleans the home he lived in together with his mom, he discovers an outdated shoebox full of love letters, pictures and newspaper clippings. His mom by no means advised him about his father, and he or she died of tuberculosis when Jack was solely eleven years outdated. Now, as he seems by way of the letters and clippings, he realizes that his father is most definitely the well-known footballer (i.e. soccer participant)Matthias Sindelar.

This new information 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 study extra concerning the Sindelar man. He meets Sindelar’s greatest buddy 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 nicely drawn characters. When you’re a fan of historic fiction, I extremely advocate including this title to your TBR record.

This evaluation was written voluntarily and my ranking was on no account influenced by the truth that I acquired 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 an attractive concept however ignores the truth that when all is claimed and executed, everybody continues to be an island unto themselves and even essentially the most keen and keen hearts can solely be treasured to this point 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 writer of three collections of brief tales: ‘In exile‘ (2008) and ‘In too deep‘ (2009), each revealed by Mercier Presse, and ‘The issues we lose, the issues we depart behind‘ (2013) revealed by New Island Books, which gained 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 useless» and his novel «My baby from Coney Islandwas revealed by HarperCollins and is obtainable 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 all over the world. His novel, Life sentencesrevealed to important 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.

Comply with Billy O’Callaghan on Twitter.