Beneath a Scarlet Sky
A mostly true story of real people caught in a war
When truth mixes with story-telling
I love the idea of blending two opposite concepts to create something new, so it’s no surprise that I’m intrigued by historical fiction where facts blend with storytelling to create a new form of reality.
Mark Sullivan has expertly merged facts with compelling storytelling in his 2017 historical fiction novel, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, the story of Pino Lello, a young Italian man living under German occupation in Italy. It’s the story of ordinary citizens forced to cope with a war that’s invaded their city, presented moral dilemmas, and irrevocably changed their lives.
Pino Lello’s family are well-to-do leather merchants in Milan. When Allied forces start bombing Milan, trying to shake the Germans, Pino’s family sends him to a school for boys high up in the mountains where Father Re counteracts the evil of the Germans by training his boys to guide people over the mountains and into the safety of Switzerland.
Just before Pino turns eighteen, his family calls him home. On his birthday, he’ll be drafted into the German army. His mother and father convince Pino to enlist instead so that he can gain a position that doesn’t put him into combat. Through a series of events…
