Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Man. I don't know how to feel after this book. I certainly don't understand how this book got so many 5 star reviews. Let me begin my saying that I loved the story. It's absolutely breathtaking what people had to endure during WWII and I really enjoyed this perspective. I had never heard the Italian side of the story before.

Despite loving the story, I don't love the book at all. The way it's written doesn't do the story any good; it's just amateuristic in some parts. For some reason cheekbones are often a thing worth mentioning for Sullivan, as well as the shape of the nose. Also, lips tend to curl in this book. Is there really no other way to describe someone's facial features? Character descriptions are shallow. We don't really know how anyone looks, and we also don't really know who they are, besides family relations and jobs. I had no connection to any of the characters throughout this book whatsoever.

Just like the characters, conversations don't seem to have any depth either. Especially in the beginning, Sullivan just seems to sum up events and conversations rather than tell a story. Pino does this, Pino says that. Carletto responds. Honestly I just wanted to close the book and never open it again at that point.

When Pino travels to Casa Alpina we finally enter novel territory. Pino develops a passion for climbing and finds purpose in helping Jews escape. This was probably the best part of the book in my opinion, in the sense that I don't have much to complain about this. Well. Maybe about the fact that Pino literally skis a pregnant woman down a hill with a violin in his hands. I didn't notice it at the time, but in hindsight this is where the superhero tales begin.

Pino moves back home, enlists as a soldier, hurts his little finger and has the incredible fortune of meeting Hitler's right hand who hires him just for fixing his car. Leyers hired Pino so easily that it actually surprised he didn't fire him at some point in the book. I get it, Pino was a spy, so he head to spy around from time to time. But if I were Leyers, I would've fired a driver that couldn't manage to stay with the car when asked. Yet, Pino gets away with everything: sneaking around, giving water to the slaves, asking about things that are none of his business.

Not only does he get away with crossing the line as a driver, he also seems to survive literally everything. How many times does he get caught in a crossfire, bombing or chased by airplanes and gets away without a single scratch? Too many. The amount of coincidence this guy experiences is ridiculous. He also manages to witness every death: Nico, Tullio, Carletto's father, Mario, Anna. Nobody is that lucky/unlucky.

Overall this book had not much tension going on. There were a few moments of tension, but these were over quickly and forgotten about easily. Sullivan could've stretched those moments. He could've made us beg for Mimo's life while he was hanging off the mountain, for Anna's life while she was facing the barrel of a gun, but it was over and done with before we had the chance to be shocked about it in the first place. Which is a shame, because undoubtedly, for Pino, these moments must have felt like an eternity.

There's probably much more to say about this book if I just keep digging in my memory long enough. But I'll just leave it here. Once again, I loved the story but it would've been even better if the writing wasn't so disappointing. The preface gave me the impression that, though slightly altered and exaggerated, the story would still be fairly close to the truth. Now, after reading the book, all I do is wonder how much of this was actually true and how much of it was just Sullivan tying loose ends together and making Pino look like more of a hero that he probably was. I surely don't doubt the honesty of Pino Lella, but I do lowkey doubt the accuracy of an old traumatized man's memory and ESPECIALLY the interpretation of it by a man who just wants to write a book that sells.

Nevertheless, this book gave me much respect (more that I already had) for the people who experienced war first hand and are traumatized by it, like Pino. I'm so sorry that poor Pino had to go through all the trauma and memories just to help a desperate man write a mediocre book.
To all the people who did write 5 star reviews: I'm happy for you that you could enjoy the story as it is, and look past all this. I wish I could. Pino deserves it.

This book came so highly recommended that I expected it to be the next Unbroken, so perhaps I'm unfair in giving it 3.5 stars instead of 4 -- the bar was really high.

It is an incredible story of resistance based on real people and events. It's a bit Forest Gump-esque in that the protagonist kept accidentally finding himself in crazy situations that required him to act like a hero. I like that it was set in Italy, since most of the books I've read about WWII are set in Germany, France or the UK. And I found myself wondering: if you're a spy, how do you convince people that you weren't actually a Nazi when the war is over.

If you enjoy WWII books, this is certainly a worthy addition to your bedside table. Unlike Unbroken, however, I probably won't be foisting it on everyone I meet for the next six months.