**A BOOK OF 2023 IN IRISH TIMES, RTÉ GUIDE AND SUNDAY INDEPENDENT**

An unforgettable and sweeping interwar love story, from the Costa-shortlisted and bestselling Irish author of Life Sentences

1980s Cork. Jack Shine discovers a shoe box full of love letters in his mother's belongings. Rebekah came to Cork alone as a young Jewish refugee from Vienna when the Second World War broke out. She died soon after, and Jack never learned of his father's identity. Why did she keep newspaper clippings about a famous footballer player? Who was 'The Paper Man'?
As Jack uncovers his mother's life, he is transported to 1930s Vienna, a bustling city on the brink of war. At the heart of the action is Matthias Sindelar, one of the most famous footballers in the world, known as 'The Paper Man' because of his effortless weave across the pitch. When Sindelar unexpectedly meets Rebekah, both of their lives are changed forever. As war looms, they must accept that their survival will tear them apart.
Based on true events, The Paper Man is the story of twentieth-century Europe and love against the odds. It is a story that will take Jack far from Cork and all the way back to Vienna, and towards The Paper Man.

Imaginative, beautifully told... Billy O'Callaghan arranges the story superbly ― Spectator

As the moving story unspools, O'Callaghan proves himself the most engaging of storytellers ― Daily Mail

O’Callaghan writes beautifully, whether enraptured by Matthias [Sindelar's] gameplay or urging forgiveness for one’s ancestors — Christian Science Monitor

Irish author O’Callaghan (Life Sentences) brings to life 1930s Austria and 1980s Ireland in this mesmerizing tale of love, soccer, and family secrets....O’Callaghan’s storytelling is magnetic — Publishers Weekly, starred review

The Paper Man is the best book yet by a truly gifted Irish writer who deserves to be better-known—and after this novel, I bet he will be — Gabriel Byrne, author of Walking with Ghosts

The Paper Man is Billy O'Callaghan's most ambitious work to date, and it fulfils its ambitions magnificently. Exciting, moving, perceptive and wonderfully entertaining ― John Banville, author of The Sea

A beautiful, layered novel about love, football and family. As the world falls apart in its darkest hours, this story tells of a life so bright, it echoes on into the generations: so that even in tragedy, there is always hope ― Elaine Feeney, author of As You Were

Gorgeous. Billy O'Callaghan writes with such a spirit of warmth about the darkest of subjects ― Sara Baume, author of A Line Made by Walking