Beneath a Scarlet Sky tells the story of Pino Lella, a 17 year old boy in Milan who get swept up in WWII after Mussolini capitulates and the Nazis start to take over the city, even as the Allies work their way up from the southern coast.
Pino is an unsung hero in a much neglected segment of WWII; Northern Italy at the end of the war. The Allies are working their way north, and the Axis is on the run.
This book reads great... fast.. the pace generally stays moving with a rapid speed, although there are moments spent in exposition that would have been far better spent on character depth and development. It seems like all the other characters are extraneous to Pino, even though a number of them are working towards the same goal.
Very interesting moments on how the Partisans destroyed their own with nearly no hesitation. Just a simple accusation is enough to bring someone before a firing squad.
The issue I do have, and this is in a number of reviews that I have now read... Some of his stories are just a little too... 'on the nose.' It isn't likely that they didn't happen, and much as it seems like a stretch. Pino basically becomes Forrest Gump in Italy during the war. The problem with that, is then you get a break to think about everything that goes before one particular incident... and... it just doesn't seem real.
No doubt he did most of what the book gives a fictionalized account of... however... it all seems just a little bit much.
Pino is a hero, for sure... he undoubtedly saved many Jews from being shipped away, and he was awarded the order of Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem, which is for those who risked their lives and helped save Jews during the Holocaust.
A remarkable story about an amazing young man.
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Nest up--- Go Set A Watchman - by Harper Lee
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