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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523 pages

Average rating: 8.29

618 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

aviationmet
Mar 31, 2025
6/10 stars
After Mark Sullivan's The Last Green Valley (which I LOVED), I had high hopes for this one. It was okay. Interesting insight into Italy during WWII, but I wonder how true to real life this "based on a true story" telling really was... It seems like the main character could do just about anything without being harmed, while those around him were shot, blown up, or captured. And to top it off, according to the afterword, he should have been on PanAm Flight 103 (Lockerbie bombing, if you don't recognize the reference), yet ended up delaying his plans a day - escaping death once again. I dunno ... not my favorite, but not awful either...
Amber Fifer
Oct 06, 2024
Beautiful story of love in WWII occupied Italy. Will uplift, inspire, and devastate you all in one fell swoop.
lovlilynne
Aug 05, 2024
4/10 stars
Couldn't get into it. What I did read of it seemed very juvenile.
Anonymous
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.
Paukku
May 25, 2024
6/10 stars
Three and a half stars. An interesting but overlong tale. Most books I have read about WW2 focus on England, Germany, or France, so the focus on Italy brought a new perspective.

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