Beneath a Scarlet Sky

Genre: Fiction

This is the true story of Pino Lella, a young Italian son to wealthy parents living in Italy before the start of WWII. With the arrival of the Nazis in Italy, Pino is sent to a remote church where, with the help of his childhood mentor, Father Ray, he begins to scale the majestic Alps. When he returns home after he turns 18 he joins the German army and begins to work for a high ranking Nazi officer. But what is Pino really doing? He is slowly and steadily helping the good guys. This is the life story of a young boy who grows up to be a man who risks everything for love and to do the right thing.

I didn’t love this story. Where do I begin? First, I don't love Sullivan's writing style. There was so much drama inherent in this story, there was no need to try to create drama with the stop-and-go of the writing. Many times, a character would speak and was stopped mid-sentence to describe something else happening. That was entirely unnecessary and amateurish.

Second, the book begins with an author’s note that tells how Sullivan came to find this story and the real Pino Lella, and how he spent some time with him learning of his story and researching the history of what happened in Italy during WWII. Sullivan says that this is a fictional account of what happened as not everything could be verified. After finishing the book, I went to Yad Vashem's website (the Israeli museum commemorating the Holocaust that is mentioned at the end of the book) to try to find any information about Pino Lella and his name doesn't appear there. I googled to find any information about him in connection with saving Jews during the war and couldn't find anything about that either. And then I started thinking about the story. All of the characters who appeared as part of this story are no longer living. The parents, the uncle and aunt, the brother, the cousins, Anna, Carmelo, the Cardinal, Father Ray. All gone. Could it be that this is entirely fictionalized? Possibly. But, what is more likely is that this very affable, social man (as he's described many times in the book) exaggerated some of what happened in his life. If I can't trust that some parts of this story are real, than logically it seems that this is an entire work of fiction and not a real life story.

And finally, the most important reason I didn't love this book is that this feels like a story of personal adventure (that happens to take place during WWII) and not, as it is billed, one of WWII. Throughout the book Lella mourns how hard his life is. A real hero, a real mensch wouldn't have recounted his experiences as follows, "He thought back on many of the terrible events he witnessed…Why me? Why must I see these things?...Pino felt as if he and Italy had been condemned to suffer cruelties that seemed endless”. Thousands of Italian Jews, Italian soldiers and others were murdered during the war. It seems highly, highly unlikely (as in, I smell a rat!!!) that someone who risked his life for others while crossing the Alps and then dangerously spying on a high ranking Nazi officer would think such a thing. I didn't like the storytelling and I particularly, don't like the story itself.

I would love to read your opinions, particularly, on this one. I had such a negative visceral reaction to this story and would love to know what others feel. You be the judge and let me know what you think below in the comments!