Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man's incredible courage and resilience during one of history's darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager--obsessed with music, food, and girls--but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.

In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier--a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler's left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich's most mysterious and powerful commanders.

Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

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Published May 1, 2017

523 pages

Average rating: 8.3

671 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Khris Sellin
Jul 05, 2024
8/10 stars
Amazing story of Pino Lella, a teenager in Milan during the rise of Hitler and Mussolini. Faced with the atrocities of war and what the fascists and Nazis were doing to his city and his country, he was moved to do incredible acts of heroism but in the process saw some unspeakable things that he could never forget.
frannie-puckett
Mar 17, 2024
10/10 stars
Could not put down!
literarily_occupied
Aug 12, 2025
8/10 stars
4.5/5 stars

"Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours."

A young Italian boy is tasked with guiding Jews safely to Switzerland through deadly mountains passes in Italy at the request of a Catholic Priest. He is then forced to join the Nazi Organization Todt as a driver for the second most powerful Nazi in all of Italy. He is working as a spy but friends and family think him a traitor and he is unable to tell them otherwise.

This story reminds us that even in our darkest hours we can find love, keep faith, and carry on.



"The best thing is to grieve for the people you loved and lost, and then welcome and love the new people life puts in front of you.”

"When we’re apart, I feel like all the music stops.”

“To be young and in love. Isn’t it remarkable that something like that can happen in the middle of a war? It says something about the inherent goodness of life, despite all the evil we’ve seen.”

"By opening our hearts, revealing our scars, we are made human and flawed and whole."
annalee.ray
May 07, 2025
10/10 stars
Amazing!! You absolutely feel in the images! The descriptions were amazing!
Harrietaspy
May 04, 2025
10/10 stars
It is very hard to believe that this is a true story. What a remarkable life! So many twists and turns out would be too much had it been written in Hollywood. The author s did such a good job researching Pino Lella's life and the slice of history he lived. Thoroughly enjoyed.

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