“Music. Wine. A cigar. The small luxuries of life are how we survive what the mind can’t fathom.”
Mark Sullivan, Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel (p. 90).
Pino got a faraway look in his eye, and after a long hesitation, said, “I’ve never told anyone about my war, Bob. But someone very wise once told me that by opening our hearts, revealing our scars, we are made human and flawed and whole. I guess I’m ready to be whole.”
Mark Sullivan, Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel (p. 502).
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book about World War II, but the first time I’ve ever read one from an Italian perspective. Mark Sullivan’s Beneath a Scarlet Sky is based on the true story of Pino Lella, an Italian spy for the Allies. When he was 18, Lella became the personal driver for one of Hitler’s top men, a Nazi named General Hans Leyers. Crazy, right? It’s really no wonder that Beneath a Scarlet Sky has risen to number 3 on Amazon Charts this week.