After the war, Mr Lella worked as a car salesman in California for a time. The truth is a little more complicated. Sadly, there are few people remaining who have first hand experience of WW2. He grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, and graduated from Hamilton College with a BA in English before working as a volunteer in the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa. Pino and many, many others who survived the war in Italy blocked out their experiences. GETTY IMAGES. In an interview with author and The good things and the bad things that have happened to us, and that is when we see the true nature of a relationship too. that the writing is simplistic and not especially literary in tone. Mark Sullivan was born to write this novel based on the real story of Pino Lella, one of many unsung heroes of the Second World War. Its cruel. Just a few months shy of Pinos 18th birthday, his father calls him back to Milan and demands that he enlist instead of waiting to be drafted. All Rights Reserved. He did. I had an amazing story to tell. hometownweekly.net/medfield/sulli Why or why not? What does it mean to be called a wop or a dago? Later, when he became the driver to a powerful Nazi general, and so a spy, he risked his life again and again to get information to the partisan resistance and to the Allies. 19.1 Related posts: Anna Marta took a bullet to her heart crumpled back against the wall and died in the dust, as Pino watched helplessly when a partisan firing squad executed her for the crime of being Leyers'maid. blogger M.K. In an attempt to protect him, Pinos parents force him to enlist as a German soldiera move they think will keep him out of combat. Pino asks Anna out on a date, and she accepts but fails to show up. For the most part Id winged it in my earlier works of fiction, writing draft after draft before the real story appeared. It changed me in a way I never expected. He's a normal Italian teenagerobsessed with . The Allies found Leyers more useful alive than dead. A: January of 2006 was a terrible time for me. He was the driver of General Hans Leyers and at the same time a spy for the Allies. Family Tree DNA? She almost dies along the way. Lello joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, guiding hundreds of Jews to safety in a year. Hes a normal Italian teenagerobsessed with music, food, and girlsbut his days of innocence are numbered. See? Pino was big for his age, and an expert skier, willing to take great risks for an important cause (and perhaps to have some good stories to later impress Anna, the girl he dreamed of). They, like Pino, witnessed men and women at their most noble and at their most savage. Testing for Ancestry? The instrument was Micheles most treasured possession, and he held it lovingly as he brought it under his chin and jawbone and raised his bow. Matthew Moore Did you trust Anna? That he escaped being tried and convicted at the Nuremberg trials is a great injustice to those who suffered and died under his commands. That night, the Allied forces begin bombing Milan. his is a great story, made a thousand percent better by its being essentially true history. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. Pino Lella. Every time Hitler invaded a new country, he took every able-bodied male and called them forced workers. Did he actually get the job of driver to General Leyers by fixing his car? The Lellas and the Albanese family were also part of the resistance movement that sprang up soon after the Nazis invaded and set up Depose Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini in a puppet government in September of 1943. I dont know. Pino looked up the hill and saw his father tuning his violin and Mr. Beltramini standing there, sheet music in his hand. Pino's father and uncle, and also Mark T. Sullivan, evidently did not know that the tragic retreat from . He's a normal Italian teenagerobsessed with music, food, and girlsbut his days of innocence are numbered. . Life experience have shown me this can be Father Re organized the escapes. Porzia: Lella: Pino's mother. This comes on a week when the book emerged as a top seller on the Amazon lists. And the smells. Pino doesn't see Anna again until he becomes a driver for General Leyers. They built the Green and Gothic battle lines in Italy. used to help the Germans dominate the citizenry, rob factories and farms, and Contact the supplier for availability. .I cant believe it at first. Copyright 2023 Suspense Inc. All rights reserved. The moon was high overhead, casting a gunmetal-blue light on the hillside, and everyone on their feet looking to the west. Leyers then delivers the devastating blow. I had a new and dear friend. What are you talking about? I didnt get a wink of sleep with all that talk of spiders and snakes last night.. How did you know you wanted to write it that way? Lives in Grumo Appula. But I pulled into the Costco parking lot as rattled as Ive been in my entire life and put my head down and begged God and the Universe for a story. for accuracy: In late March 2006. The peaches were not quite ripe, but the figs were. )By the way, the Oct 2017 Wagner College presentation includes a number of fibs not present in the book, along with other informative clues. Every Italian-American knows what wop means. U.S. Army Major Frank Knebel returned to California and became a newspaper publisher. As a spy I think he believed overwhelmingly in the value of his mission, and he felt compelled to bear witness to the atrocities committed by Nazis in Italy. The Beltraminis broke out five ripe cantaloupes. On his 18th birthday, Lello is forced to enlist with the German Army, and is immediately assigned as a personal driver to Adolf Hitlers left hand, General Hans Leyers. "I recommend visiting comments under the top default reviews and certain discussions in the Q&A section on GoodReads, as well as Reddit and the Axis History forum (search Hans Leyers to find Sullivan's 2009 thread and the replies that provide info on how Leyers was miscast and abused). Benito: Mussolini: The Fascist Dictator. This book tour would not be possible at all without fantastic Valeria Andreoli from BellaMilano who guided us throughout Milan beautifully almost five full hours! Because he wore the German uniform, Pino was thought a traitor by many people who did not understand his role as a spy, including his own brother. Blessed Marta Anna Wiecka D.C.Born12 January 1874 Nowy Wiec, Province of Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, German EmpireDied30 May 1904 (aged 30) Sniatyn, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-HungaryVenerated inRoman Catholic ChurchBeatified24 May 2008, Lviv, Ukraine by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone5 more rows. The author was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa and was an investigative journalist who now writes books including five collaborations with James Patterson. WWII Italy felt overlooked and unexamined, which made it even more exciting for me as I worked on the book. What do you think the author intended by choosing to portray such an evil man in this light? Good, she said. Q: In real life and in the book, Pino was surrounded by brave, talented people who accomplished great things during, and after, the war. The conversation is described in Sullivan's epilogue to 'Beneath a Scarlet Sky.' . The rising notes and phrases all sounded to Pino like two improbable angels singing, one high through his fathers fingers, and one low in Mr. Beltraminis throat, both more heavenly inspiration than skill. extended family members and fell in love with a woman who would haunt him the He is "1.85 meters tall, seventy-five kilograms, long and gangly, with big hands and feet, hair that defied taming, and enough acne and awkwardness that none of the girls he'd asked to the movies had agreed to accompany him" (7). Carletto cocked his head, as if peering at a painting he didnt quite understand. Did you see it coming? . Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. Over the course of those first three weeks, as Pino opened up more and more, I experienced his deep pain and marveled at his ability to go on after being so depressed and traumatized he too had contemplated suicide. Mrs. Napolitano is based on three different women I think the burning of all incriminating evidence was part of his plan, an ingenious man, as it left no paper trail for them to follow except things he did the might have seemed supportive of the allies during the war. With our tour, you will walk in the footsteps of this Italian hero during the most dramatic years of Milan, following his adventures in the . The second intriguing 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. Why did Mark Sullivan write Beneath a Scarlet Sky? But he should stop, you know? Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. For almost two years after the end of the conflict, Allied prosecutors prepared cases against prominent Fascists and Nazis accused of war crimes in Italy. Email or phone: Password: . Major General Hans Leyers moved to the small German town of Eischweiller upon being released from POW camp after the war crimes charges were dropped. He has become forgetful and has a hard time focusing on a subject, often losing his track of thought. Do you think its possible for such an underground network to exist today? Nessun Dorma is a towering piece that builds and builds, demanding that the singer grow stronger, reveling in his love for the princess and surer of victory with every moment that ticks toward dawn. Its hard to underestimate Leyers power. . Pascal Pictures' Pascal and Rachel O'Connor have acquired film rights to the Mark Sullivan novel Beneath A Scarlet Sky, with Holland attached to play the lead role. An incredible story, beautifully written, and a fine and noble book. James Patterson, #1New York TimesBestselling Author, Beneath a Scarlet Sky has everythingheroism, courage, terror, true love, revenge, compassion in the face of the worst human evils. World War II Italy has never been more alive to me. Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author of The Nowhere Man, Action, adventure, love, war, and an epic hero all set against the backdrop of one of historys darkest momentsMark Sullivans Beneath a Scarlet Sky has everything one can ask for in an exceptional World War II novel. Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author ofPlaying With Fire. Saladin never sacked Jerusalem. A Cardinal in Milan. clearly found by Sullivan after the book manuscript was out of his hands. Later, Lello enlisted in the German Army to avoid being drafted into it. Reader Q&A, He also witnessed important events and If you were in her shoes, do you think youd be brave enough to attempt the trek? And that is the goal. In my experience older Italians dont talk freely about the war. You knew some odd note was coming, and it could be so sour at times, it was, well, embarrassing. Tom Holland has been cast as Pino Lella. By the end of act 2, Calaf has answered all the riddles, but the princess still refuses to marry him. [So, was General Layers actually spying for the allies too, making sure that Pino was able to see things to report back? Other books on the the war. Ive read at least a half dozen books that describe what . And, of course, Anna gave him strength. Several hours later, deep in his dreams, Pino was chasing Anna down the street when he heard distant thunder. When he died he left behind cryptic notes about wanting to write an account of great intrigue that unfolded in Milan in the last days of the war. Join Facebook to connect with Pino Lella and others you may know. Beneath a Scarlet Sky shares the story of a teenage spy, Pino Lella. Switzerland. We talked to Holocaust historians, war This place. We appreciated our knowledgeable and friendly guide who went out of her way to help us appreciate Milan and Pino Lellas amazing story. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. It is estimated that as many as eleven million people were forced to work for the OT across Europe, and yet the documents still in existence about a vital part of Hitlers war machine would fill less than three filing cabinets. He was the driver of General Hans Leyers and at the same time spy for the Alliance. An American family spends a year in Italya dream, a disaster, laughter and tears, an unforgettable memory. parents sent Pino and his brother into the mountains for safety, they worked The only thing that I did not like about this book--compelled, though by the truth of what really happened--SPOILER--is the death of Anna.I think that in most pure fiction books, she would have lived. that one teenager could have experienced and seen so much in such a short time (see note below*). He wasnt upset, but he wondered when the rain would fall, and what it would taste like on his tongue. We went all over northern Italy so I could see where many By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Amazing story took every able-bodied male and called them forced workers worked on the book manuscript out... A wop or a dago below * ) to General Leyers by fixing his car by Sullivan after war... Guiding hundreds of Jews to safety in a way I never expected draft before real. Figs were forgetful and has a hard time focusing on a week when the book in and... He has become forgetful and has a hard time focusing on a date, and it could be so at... But fails to show up looking to the west Lellas amazing story older Italians talk. He escaped being tried and convicted at the Nuremberg trials is a great to. Porzia: Lella: Pino & # x27 ; s a normal Italian teenagerobsessed.! Unforgettable memory his car, witnessed men and women at their most noble at! 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