Book Review: Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

 There's so little written about Italy during World War II. After reading so many stories -- especially from France -- I needed to learn more about what happened in Italy. (I know my grandmother would want that. I remember her telling me about leaving Italy when Mussolini was just starting to gain power. Tears welled in eyes when she talked about King Victor Emmanuel. "He was a good king," she said.)

Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the true, but fictionalized, story of Pino Lella, a teenager from Milan who becomes a hero -- whether he wants to believe that or not. He helps Jews escape Italy and get to Switzerland and later becomes a spy for the Allies. He also meets Mussolini and his mistress several times, as well as some other well-known historical figures.

He also deeply experiences love and loss, along with terror, anger, disgust and just about every other emotion you can imagine when thinking about Nazis and Fascists. The joy he feels at the end of the war -- and partying with Americans, who he desperately wanted to meet -- is short-lived, however, and it takes him years to come to terms with what happened to bring him to his lowest point.

The last chapter of the book includes updates on the characters as well as the author's meetings with Pino and how the story came to be.

I highly recommend this book, especially for people, like me, who want to read more about Italy during WWII. It also includes a theory on why there is such scant information about it, which I found very interesting.