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Roland Merullo

Biography

Roland Merullo

Roland Merullo is the bestselling author of more than 20 works of fiction and nonfiction, including ONCE NIGHT FALLS; THE DELIGHT OF BEING ORDINARY; THE TALK-FUNNY GIRL, an Alex Award winner; VATICAN WALTZ, a Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2013 pick; BREAKFAST WITH BUDDHA, an international bestseller now in its 20th printing; LUNCH WITH BUDDHA, selected as one of the Best Books of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews; REVERE BEACH BOULEVARD, named one of the “Top 100 Essential Books of New England” by the Boston Globe; and REVERE BEACH ELEGY, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction.

Born in Boston and raised in Revere, Massachusetts, Roland attended Brown University, where he obtained a bachelor of arts in Russian studies and a master of arts in Russian language and literature. A former Peace Corps volunteer, he’s also made his living as a carpenter, college professor and cabdriver. Roland, his wife and their two lovely daughters live in the hills of western Massachusetts.

Roland Merullo

Books by Roland Merullo

by Roland Merullo - Fiction, Historical Fiction

It’s 1945. The Nazi occupation of Italy is in its closing days. But risk is ever present. It’s been nearly two years since Sarah Zinsi found tenuous sanctuary in Switzerland. Unmoored in a foreign land, she heeds a rumor that her village on the Lake Como shore has been liberated. Clutching her young daughter, Sarah navigates the arduous mountain trek back home to be with Luca Benedetto, the father of her child. A resister to the end, Luca has one last assignment: assassinate Mussolini, the man who destroyed everything Luca cherished and who forced the love of his life to flee. Sarah’s path crosses that of a charismatic and kindly black marketeer turned partisan spy. He vows to keep mother and child safe as Luca’s perilous mission escalates and the Nazis’ final moves devolve into chaos.

by Roland Merullo - Fiction, Historical Fiction

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.

by Roland Merullo - Fiction, Historical Fiction

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, he'll have to endure forced labor or a 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 will do anything to live another day. And all of Naples is about to join forces to overcome impossible odds and repel the Nazi occupiers.

by Roland Merullo - Fiction, Historical Fiction

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 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.

by Roland Merullo - Fiction, Humor

What happens when the Pope and the Dalai Lama decide they need an undercover vacation? During a highly publicized official visit at the Vatican, the Pope suggests an adventure so unexpected and appealing that neither man can resist. Before dawn, two of the most beloved and famous people on the planet don disguises, slip into a waiting car, and experience the countryside as regular people. Along for the ride are the Pope's overwhelmed cousin Paolo and his estranged wife Rosa, an eccentric hairdresser with a lust for life who cannot resist the call to adventure --- or the fun.

by Roland Merullo - Fiction

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. His first 50 or so years were pretty good. He felt he had it all, until one day he didn’t. Seeking understanding, he calls on Volya Rinpoche, a wise man and spiritual leader. But it turns out that Rinpoche is experiencing his own time of doubt. In hopes of finding answers to life’s mysteries, the two embark on a journey through America, an amusing and enlightening road trip that becomes a lesson in love and gratitude.

by Roland Merullo - Fiction

Cynthia Piantedosi lives a quiet, unassuming life outside of Boston, guided by her Catholic faith. Devoted to her elderly father and not particularly interested in dating and socializing, she develops a deep friendship with her parish priest, who encourages her to explore her faith. When he is killed in a mysterious accident, a message begins to emerge from Cynthia’s prayers: God is calling her to be the first female Catholic priest.

by Roland Merullo - Fiction

In one of the poorest parts of rural New Hampshire, teenage girls have been disappearing, snatched from back country roads, never to be seen alive again.  For seventeen-year-old Marjorie Richards, the fear raised by these abductions is the backdrop to what she lives with her own home, every day.