Roland Merullo

A harrowing historical novel of the extraordinary acts of ordinary people in Nazi-occupied Italy. Italy, 1943. Luca Benedetto has joined the partisans in their fight against the German troops ravaging the shores of his town on Lake Como. While risking his life to free his country, Luca is also struggling to protect Sarah, his Jewish lover who's hiding in a mountain cabin. As the violent Nazi occupation intensifies, Luca and Sarah fear for more than their own lives. In the heart of their village, their mothers have also found themselves vulnerable to the encroaching Nazis. But Luca's mother, undeterred, is devising her own revenge on the occupiers. With Mussolini deposed and Allied armies fighting their way up the peninsula, the fate of Italy hangs in the balance, and the people of Lake Como must decide how much they're prepared to sacrifice for family, friends, and the country they love. The most trying of times will create the most unexpected heroes and incredible acts of courage in this stirring narrative as seen through the eyes of those devastated by war-torn Italy.

Once Night Falls

From the bestselling author of From These Broken Streets comes a sweeping novel of love, resistance, and courage set against the backdrop of WWII Italy. Italy, 1943. The seeds of terror planted by Hitler have brought Allied forces to Italian soil. Young lovers separated by war--one near a Tuscan hill town, the other a soldier on the Sicilian front--will meet any challenge to reunite. Vittoria SanAntonio, the daughter of a prosperous vineyard owner, is caught in a web of family secrets. Defying her domineering father, she has fallen for humble vineyard keeper Carlo Conte. When Carlo is conscripted into Mussolini's army, it sets a fire in Vittoria, and she joins the resistance. As the Nazi war machine encroaches, Vittoria is drawn into dangers as unknowable as those faced by the man she loves. Badly wounded on the first day of the invasion, Carlo regains consciousness on a farm in Sicily. Nursed back to health by a kind family there, he embarks on an arduous journey north through his ravaged homeland. For Carlo and Vittoria, as wartime threats mount and their paths diverge, what lies ahead will test their courage as never before.

A Harvest of Secrets

At the behest of his sister, Otto Ringling finds himself reluctantly accompanying her guru, an enigmatic Mongolian monk, on a trip through Middle America to their childhood home, introducing his passenger to some American "fun" along the way.

A Novel

Breakfast with Buddha

"Italy, 1943. The Nazi occupation has cemented its grip on the devastated city of Naples. Giuseppe DiPietra, a curator in the National Archives, has a subversive plan to aid the Allies. If he's discovered, forced labor or swift execution. Lucia Pastone, secretary for the Italian Fascist government, is risking her own life in secret defiance of orders. And Lucia's father, Aldo, is a black marketeer who draws Giuseppe and Lucia into the underworld--for their protection and to help plant the seeds of resistance. Their fates are soon intertwined with those of Aldo's devoted lover and a boy of the streets who'll do anything to live another day. And all of Naples is about to join forces to overcome impossible odds and repel the Nazi occupiers"--

From These Broken Streets

Raised by parents so intentionally isolated that they speak their own hybrid dialect, abused youth Marjorie witnesses her parents' submission to a sadistic cult leader before she is rescued by another abuse survivor who teaches her stoneworking skills.

The Talk-funny Girl

Left adrift after the tragic and unexpected death of the woman he loved, Jake, a Boston contractor, finds himself falling for the beautiful woman who backs into his beloved 1949 Dodge truck, despite the fact that she is involved in a very public affair with the governor of Massachusetts and that she suffers from cystic fibrosis. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

A Little Love Story

What if Jesus suddenly appeared and announced that he planned to run for President of the United States? Yes, that Jesus. And what if a well-meaning but utterly inexperienced band of disciples not only helped him mount a seat-of-the-pants campaign but also ran it well, getting millions of people to support him and in the process throwing the other two major party candidates—as well as the world's news media—into a frenzy as they scramble to discredit him? Roland Merullo's bitingly clever satirical novel about the state of American politics follows one man's campaign to bring back goodness and kindness (real goodness and kindness this time) in a country that has fallen into a divisive state of fear and hatred. Merullo takes us into the heart of "a nation in grave spiritual danger" as the Son of man sets out to make everyone realize that "politics as usual" is no longer an acceptable alternative. American Savior is a remarkably innovative novel that challenges our perceptions and beliefs while it wags a finger at the folly of our self-righteousness. It is sure to cause controversy among those for whom politics itself has become a kind of religion.

A Novel of Divine Politics

American Savior

a novel

Driving Mr. Buddha

Manifesting intense religious episodes after losing first her grandmother and then her priest friend, Cynthia becomes convinced that God intends for her to become Catholicism's first female priest and pursues her belief all the way to the Vatican.

Vatican Waltz

What happens when the Pope and the Dalai Lama decide they need a secret vacation? Roland Merullo’s playful, eloquent, and life-affirming novel finds the world’s two holiest men teaming up for an unsanctioned road trip through the Italian countryside--where they rediscover the everyday joys and challenges of ordinary life. During the Dalai Lama’s highly publicized official visit to the Vatican, the Pope suggests an adventure so unexpected and appealing that neither man can resist: they will shed their robes for several days and live as ordinary men. Before dawn, the two beloved religious leaders make a daring escape from Vatican City, slip into a waiting car, and are soon traveling the Italian roads in disguise. Along for the ride is the Pope’s neurotic cousin and personal assistant, Paolo, who--to his terror-- has been put in charge of arranging the details of their disappearance. Rounding out the group is Paolo’s estranged wife, Rosa, an eccentric entrepreneur with a lust for life, who orchestrates the sublime disguises of each man. Rosa is a woman who cannot resist the call to adventure--or the fun. Against a landscape of good humor, intrigue, and spiritual fulfillment, The Delight of Being Ordinary showcases the uniquely charming sensibilities of author Roland Merullo. Part whimsical expedition, part love story, part spiritual search, this uplifting novel brings warmth and laughter to the universal concerns of family life, religious inspiration, and personal identity—all of which combine to transcend cultural and political barriers in the name of a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

A Road Trip with the Pope and the Dalai Lama

The Delight of Being Ordinary

Raised by parents so isolated that they speak their own hybrid dialect, abused youth Marjorie witnesses her parents' submission to a sadistic cult leader before she is rescued by another abuse survivor who teaches her stoneworking.

The Talk-Funny Girl

A clandestine scheme to assassinate Fidel Castro spirals into paranoia, betrayal, and deceit in this dazzling thriller. Former CIA agent Carolina Perez has spent five years working deep undercover with a singular goal: to take down Castro and free Cuba from his troubled presence. Across the Straits in Havana, Carlos Gutierrez is Castro’s minister of health and a member of his inner circle. Carlos has also been convinced to overthrow el Comandante, at great risk to himself and those he loves. But the indestructible dictator is surrounded by more than just the D-7 secret police: A Byzantine network of spies, double agents, and informants means nobody is who they seem. A thrill ride through Miami and Havana, Fidel’s Last Days sizzles with tension until the final word.

Fidel's Last Days

The story of an Italian family in Boston, narrated by its members. The central figure is Peter, a real estate salesman and gambler, in debt to a loan shark who is being investigated by Peter's sister, a journalist. Old country flavor is provided by the father. By the author of Leaving Losapas.

Revere Beach Boulevard

Leaving Losapas begins on a tiny atoll in the equatorial Pacific. Leo Markin, a young US Marine and Vietnam combat veteran who survived the war, found himself so changed by the experience that he simply could not find a way to return to his home, family, and his fiancée in a working class city of his birth outside of Boston. The islanders in Losapas are kind to him-he had been living there for years-and he had found a woman he came to love. Various events conspire to convince him to return to America, but on his return home he feels lost. He has troubling encounters with his aging father, finds that his fiancée has married another man and appears trapped in an abusive relationship, and his old friends seem like strangers to him. Leo is torn between the peaceful, natural way of life on the island, and the rougher rules of his upbringing. In the end, though he has sworn to turn his back on physical violence, it is an act of physical violence that convinces him the only place he can live is Losapas. When his father suddenly dies, Leo decides to leave the house he inherits to his former fiancée-thus encouraging her to leave her husband-and he returns to the life he left behind and to his island lover. Boston Magazine called Leaving Losapas a "great surprising book...the best novel of the year..." and The Rocky Mountain News said "it's a wondrous, spiritually rich story...Merullo has created something of beauty...Leaving Losapas will linger in your mind long after you close its pages."

Leaving Losapas

Part family saga, part suspense novel, The Return tells the story of two very different men-underworld boss and compulsive gambler-and the people who love them. Peter Imbesalacqua, deep in debt when he made the mistake of borrowing money from Eddie Crevine, wore a wire to a last, fateful meeting with Crevine. That recording sent Eddie into hiding and Peter into the Witness Protection Program. Now some time has passed, and for different reasons, both men feel drawn to return to Revere, Massachusetts, the city where they were born and raised. Eddie, miserable and driven half-crazy by his secret Florida exile, wants revenge. And Peter, also miserable in his secret Montana exile, tells himself he just wants to see his aging father one more time. The Return wanders through the territories of anger and compulsion, but along the way it touches, as well, upon love and strength and regret and sacrifice, a cauldron of human emotion that reaches its boiling point in a shocking climax.

The Return

An ex-CIA agent is involved in a clandestine plot to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Fidel's last days

Budayla Kahvalti

“We, like Otto, find our cynicism worn away by Rinpoche’s gentle instruction in the simple but terribly difficult art of letting go, living each moment to the fullest, seeing the sacred in the everyday . . . This brave, meditative author has carved a unique niche in American literature.” —Kirkus Reviews starred review If life is a journey--with detours, paths from which to choose, and myriad roadblocks to overcome--then Otto Ringling is most certainly on the journey of a lifetime. The first fifty or so years of his journey were pretty good. He felt that he had it all, until one day he didn’t. Looking for answers, he calls on his brother-in-law, Volya Rinpoche, a wise man and spiritual leader. A man who accepts the world as it comes to him; a man without pride or vanity. Someone who, as it turns out, is experiencing his own time of doubt. So, in hopes of finding answers to life’s mysteries, the two embark on a journey through America, a road trip that becomes a lesson in love and gratitude. “Merullo offers keen insight into and intelligent assessments of modern American life, but it is his compassionate portrait of a grieving Otto in search of inner tranquility that is most affecting.” —Booklist “Otto is such a full human, which is why we can empathize with his questions and immerse ourselves in his experiences. In the end, we are all humanized by the spiritual journey of Dinner with Buddha.” —Spirituality and Practice “Merullo masterfully depicts the struggles of practicing mindfulness moment by moment . . . [The] novel is full of nuanced, thoughtful prose and is an immensely satisfying conclusion to the series.” —Publishers Weekly

Dinner with Buddha

Cynthia lives an unassuming life and experiences "spells" of intense spiritual intimacy. Devoted to her elderly Dad and not interested in socializing, she develops a deep friendship with a supportive priest. When he is killed in a mysterious accident, a message begins to emerge from Cynthia's prayers. Best of 2013 List-Publishers Weekly.

When Otto Ringling faces emotional challenges, his sister arranges for a spiritual teacher, who happens to be her husband, to take a road trip with him in hopes he can find peace of mind.

Roland Merullo

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