BENEATH A SCARLET SKY

by Mark Sullivan

I don’t know why WWII stories keep showing up so often on my reading list, but immediately after reading The Alice Network, I picked up this book with no expectations at all. Beneath A Scarlet Sky is the novelized true story of Pino Lella, who as a teenager helped Jews escape Italy, worked as a spy within the Nazi organization in Milan and assisted the Americans in removing the partisans once the war ended. It is an unbelievable tale, made all the more thrilling by the fact that it is true.

I was not at all familiar with the story of Milan during WWII, or even Italy generally, as most of my education and reading has been more England/France/Germany focused. As with many stories where Nazis figure prominently, the violence is beyond disturbing and the lack of humanity is sickening. Sullivan captures all of this through the gaze of Lella who experiences one tragedy after another and yet always manages somehow to go on, to survive.

I found this a fascinating read with some moments of truly uplifting humanity, but the sheer volume of atrocities that Lella experiences got overwhelming at many points and I found myself needing to give it a little time before returning for more. (Lily)