The Paper Man

A deeply moving interwar romance set between 1930s Austria and 1980s Ireland, based on a real-life unsolved mystery.

1930s Austria. Vienna is a bustling, cosmopolitan city on the brink of war. Matthias Sindelar is an internationally renowned soccer player known as “The Paper Man” because of his because of his effortless weave across the field. When Sindelar speaks out against Hitler, his fame can’t protect him from being placed under Gestapo surveillance. Meanwhile, Sindelar falls in love with a young Jewish girl named Rebekah. As the atmosphere in Vienna darkens under the Nazi regime, Rebekah flees to relatives in Cork, Ireland. Only after she arrives there does she realize she is pregnant with Sindelar’s child. The following year, at the age of 35, The Paper Man is found dead in his apartment.

1980s Ireland. In the Jewish Quarter of Cork, Rebekah’s son Jack Shine discovers a bundle of German letters and newspaper clippings tied with a ribbon while sorting his mother’s belongings. With the help of his German-speaking father-in-law, Jack translates the letters and attempts to piece together his family history and, hopefully, solve the mystery of his father’s identity.

Based on real people and true events, The Paper Man is the story of twentieth-century Europe, the Holocaust, the cost of fame, and love against the odds.

Billy O’Callaghan is the award-winning author of four short story collections and four novels. A lifelong soccer fanatic, he was intrigued by the life of Matthias Sindelar, superstar of the great 1930s Austrian team. The mysterious and sinister nature of Sindelar’s death drew O’Callaghan to Vienna where he traced Sindelar’s footsteps and visited his grave. From there, he slowly developed the story that became The Paper Man. Winner of the Irish Book Award, and finalist for the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award and COSTA Short Story Award, among other honors, O’Callaghan’s work has been translated into many languages. His short stories have appeared in magazines around the world. His most recent novel, Life Sentences, was published by Godine in 2022. O’Callaghan was born in the village of Douglas, Ireland, where he still lives.