Books by Roland Merullo

"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." --Back cover.

When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passengerand amuse himselfhe decides to show the monk some American fun along the way. From a chocolate factory in Hershey to a bowling alley in South Bend, from a Cubs game at Wrigley field to his family farm near Bismarck, Otto is given the remarkable opportunity to see his worldand more important, his lifethrough someone else's eyes. Gradually, skepticism yields to amazement as he realizes that his companion might just be the real thing. In Roland Merullo's masterful hands, Otto tells his story with all the wonder, bemusement, and wry humor of a man who unwittingly finds what he's missing in the most unexpected place.

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.

A hilarious account of one absolutely disastrous Italian vacation, a story full of illness and good food, cold houses and warm people, bad decisions, marital spats, and family love. True in every detail, it is the tale of a trip award-winning author Roland Merullo made with his wife of many years, their two young children, and his brave octogenarian mother in an attempt to escape the New England winter and enjoy Italian cuisine, architecture, warm weather, and each other. Shortly after arriving at their rental house north of Rome, however, the Merullo family finds itself neck-deep in a swamp of misfortune. A stomach flu takes hold of their younger daughter and will not let go. The house is freezing cold, isolated, and patrolled by a pack of pesky mongrels. Hoping to escape the situation, the family heads south on a 500 mile drive, only to encounter, among a cast of eccentric characters, more bad luck. Their ability to cope - sometimes - and laugh - afterwards - forms the heart of Taking the Kids to Italy.

A family rallies around an errant son, even as a long-hidden secret that has touched all their lives comes to the surface. "The Boston Globe" selected "Revere Beach Boulevard" as one of its Top 100 Essential New England Books and author Richard Russo called it ," . . a great novel --ambitious, heartfelt, and oh-so skilled." 322 pp.

"Merullo skillfully explores the lives of ordinary people caught in a dramatic transference of power . . . it is smoothly written and multifaceted, solidly depicting the isolation and poverty of a city far removed from Moscow and insightfully exploring the psyches of individuals caught in the conflicts between their ideals and their careers."--"Publishers Weekly"

Merullo shares his spiritual, intellectual, and emotional discoveries, writing about his relationship with his father, his working class upbringing and upper class education, the early years of his marriage, and the gift of children. 204 pp.

From chapters entitled "Writer's Block" to "Finding a Mentor" to "Impatience and Rejection," Merullo covers these topics with the insight, empathy, and encouragement of an author who has been there, in this no-nonsense handbook and guide for aspiring and established writers alike. His works have been praised by "The Boston Globe" and "Kirkus Reviews."

Leo Markin, a young U.S. 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 fiance in a working class city of his birth outside of Boston. He is torn between the peaceful, natural way of life on the island of Losapas and the rougher rules of his upbringing. 304 pp.