“The innocence of childhood collides with the stark aftermath of war in this wrenching and ultimately redemptive tale of family, seemingly impossible choices, and the winding paths to destiny, which sometimes take us to places far beyond our imaginings.” – Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Before We Were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends
“Ardone’s beautifully crafted story … Friends
“Ardone’s beautifully crafted story explores the meaning of identity and belonging…recommended to fans of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.” – The Library Journal
“[The Children’s Train] leaves you with a great sense of the importance of family and the tough decisions that must be faced as a result of that love.” – Shelf Awareness
Based on true events, a heartbreaking story of love, family, hope, and survival set in post-World War II Italy—written with the heart of Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours—about poor children from the south sent to live with families in the north to survive deprivation and the harsh winters.
Though Mussolini and the fascists have been defeated, the war has devastated Italy, especially the south. Seven-year-old Amerigo lives with his mother Antonietta in Naples, surviving on odd jobs and his wits like the rest of the poor in his neighborhood. But one day, Amerigo learns that a train will take him away from the rubble-strewn streets of the city to spend the winter with a family in the north, where he will be safe and have warm clothes and food to eat.
Together with thousands of other southern children, Amerigo will cross the entire peninsula to a new life. Through his curious, innocent eyes, we see a nation rising from the ashes of war, reborn. As he comes to enjoy his new surroundings and the possibilities for a better future, Amerigo will make the heartbreaking choice to leave his mother and become a member of his adoptive family.
Amerigo’s journey is a moving story of memory, indelible bonds, artistry, and self-exploration, and a soaring examination of what family can truly mean. Ultimately Amerigo comes to understand that sometimes we must give up everything, even a mother’s love, to find our destiny.
Translated from the Italian by Clarissa Botsford
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The innocence of childhood collides with the stark aftermath of war in this wrenching and ultimately redemptive tale of family, seemingly impossible choices, and the winding paths to destiny, which sometimes take us to places far beyond our imaginings.
In post-WWII, the country of Italy is divided between Communists and Fascists. The main character, Amerigo, is a young boy whose mother decides it would be best to put him on the children’s train that will take him to northern Italy where there is food and clothing. The emotions that Amerigo experiences throughout this book are so deep and heartfelt. Even though this book is historical fiction, I’m sure there are many children who experienced the events that Amerigo went through. Hold onto your heart as you read The Children’s Train–A Novel.
“All feet are different, every single one has its own shape. You need to indulge your feet, otherwise all of life is suffering.” The Children’s Train by Viola Ardone
This historical fiction novel, translated from the original Italian by Clarissa Botsford, could be read as rather simplistic, but knowing it was based on true events brings complex layers of meaning.
In 1946, parents in post-World War II southern Italy, who struggled to provide for themselves and their families, were given the option to send their young children via train to northern Italy to stay with families who were willing and able to provide food, clothing, and shelter for several months. Rumors of the actual conditions (abuse and neglect) and destination (Russia) abounded, but many parents sent their children off with nothing more than prayers and tears.
Because this novel has been compared to “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate, I braced myself to read about the terrible conditions these children encountered when they reached their temporary northern homes. Seven-year-old Amerigo, our main character, is the last to be collected at the train station, a bad omen. However, after some initial adjustment issues, Amerigo flourishes under the care of Derna, her sister Rosa, and Rosa’s family. For the first time in his young life, Amerigo has a father figure, brothers, a room and possessions of his own, and plenty of food. Two gifts he receives from Rosa’s husband Alcide change the course of his life.
However, this arrangement is temporary, and soon it’s time for the children to return to their families in Naples. Transitioning back to life with his mother Antonietta, whose situation has improved very little in the months Amerigo was gone, is difficult. It seems unfair that a young child must live with his cold and emotionally unavailable mother in harsh poverty when he has known life in a warm, caring, and prosperous family. The tension of between his obligation to his mother as her only living relative vs. his desire to have a better childhood and future is palpable and resolves in a surprising way.
The final portion of the novel takes place in 1994 and sheds light on Amerigo’s decisions and their consequences. He wrestles with many emotions and reconnects with people from his past. To share more would spoil the reading experience for others.
A theme consistent throughout the novel is shoes – young Amerigo plays a game, adding and subtracting points while looking at the condition of others’ shoes; his trade in Naples was to be with a cobbler; and often his ill-fitting shoes and the resulting pain and blisters is mentioned, both as a child and an adult. The quote at the beginning of this review provides some insight into this theme.
I’ll continue to think about this novel for quite some time, the hallmark of a powerful book. Book clubs can find much to discuss in its 288 pages.
What an emotional historical fiction story based in WWII. I have read a lot of books based that time period, but this may have been the first one focused on post-WWII Italy. Extreme poverty was such a struggle. So many parents sent their children on a train to northern Italy. This allowed the children to be taken into temporary foster homes. As you travel through the book from Amerigo’s point of view, you will see how the children’s struggle with missing their family but having the opportunity of a lifetime of being loved and provided a wonderful environment. This book is an emotional rollercoaster that has you wondering what would have been the best for Amerigo. It’s a touching story that is a good addition to your to-be-read list.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harpervia for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Love these historical type
Who knew about this post war situation with children in Italy. Very interesting and well written story
I was so looking forward to finally getting to read “The Children’s Train,” and it didn’t disappoint. This is a lovely, well-written piece of historical fiction about a time following WWII when poor children in Southern Italy were given the option to live (temporarily) with more prosperous families in Northern Italy. Our main character Amerigo is one such child who goes and then comes back.
The subject matter is, on the surface, fairly miserable, but the book doesn’t muddle around in tragedy. The prose is detailed and witty, and the progression of the story is well-paced. Whether children are speaking to each other, or to adults, the dialogue reads as totally natural, sometimes genuinely funny. Amerigo contextualizes the world in a way that he can understand it, and at times his observations and actions come off as both innocent and dark. For example, he describes his older brother’s death from bronchial asthma as a “bad idea” rather than a tragedy. Really fitting for a child’s perspective on death.
Anyway, after Amerigo arrives in Northern Italy, he soon finds that his life is better there than it ever was in Naples with his mother. The use of these two settings is purposeful, in fact the entire point of the book, as it presents Amerigo with the extreme opposite of how he’s lived up until then. The conflict he feels when he returns to his mother, where nothing much has changed, becomes the main conflict of the story. From poverty and a distant mother to a caring foster family where he never goes hungry. From there, he makes a choice.
I’m not sure yet how I feel about the ending. It made me a bit emotional, but I feel like it could’ve done something more. Very glad I read it, nonetheless. Made for a quick read.
I know I’m in the minority with this book. Most loved it and gave it 4 or 5 stars. To be honest I just can’t do that. Though it is a very touching story and the times were horrible back then and it’s based on real life facts I just didn’t feel anything. I had no emotions reading this one. Not that I didn’t feel horrible for these children and in some ways the parents too. It was just not an emotional story for me. It was like reading a part in a history book. I didn’t connect with any of the characters at all. I felt awful for Amerigo Speranza as he narrated this story. He’s a seven year old child who seemed to be grown way beyond his years.
Seems in Italy back in 1946 in Naples, the people were starving so bad that they had to send their children to Northern Italy to live six or so months to keep from freezing and starving. They had good lives during this time. Or at least one child did. The one telling this story. He was well taken care of, loved, fed, clothed and sent to school. He had a good life, but only for six months out of one year. Looks to me like these kind people or caring parents would have let these children stay where they were safe and cared for. Instead they go back to the same life they had before. Nothing changed.
Amerigo’s mother was a selfish, unlovable, brut of a woman. She was a bit on the fast side too. I just did not like her at all. She has a great kid who loves her dearly and all she does is degrade him and never show him affection. I understand she lost a child but still. How do you push another away? I did not like her. Nothing about her except that she let her son go North to live for a while. That was kind of her. I would think that not seeing him for six months she would have been very happy to see him but she wasn’t. Even in the last few chapters where it seems she did think of him a bit I could not connect with her at all.
Then he takes off back North. Apparently he did great as the story jumped ahead to him being a grown man. He is a famous Violinist who had made a great life for himself. At least it appears that way. I’m going to assume he did. There was nothing leading up to this part but it was still my favorite part of this book. That he possibly had a great life with the family that truly cared for him and he made something out of himself was great.
This passage was my favorite in this story. Chapter 51… I pull out the dusty case and open it. The violin is even smaller than I remember it, almost like a toy. It feels like I’m receiving it as a gift again, only this time it’s from you. Inside the case there’s still the label with my name on it: “Amerigo Speranza.”
Thank you to #NetGalley, #ViolaArdone, #HarperVia for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.
3/5 stars from me. I do recommend you read it for yourself as you may love it or see something that I didn’t. It’s a good story it just didn’t do it for me. No emotion. At least not until the last three or so chapters.
The war is over, but Italy is still recovering and is filled with underprivileged children.
Northern Italy seems to have come back much quicker and are more prosperous.
THE CHILDREN’S TRAIN is a story based on true events that happened post WWII.
We meet young children taken from their parents by choice to live with an adopted family in Northern Italy for the winter.
The train ride was frightening for the children because they were worried about how the new families would treat them, and they missed their mothers and fathers.
There were some funny parts, though, when one of the younger girls shouted: Look it is raining ricotta. It was snow, and she had never seen snow before.
You will feel sorry for the children and hope their fears of what will happen to them subside.
We follow the life of Amerigo with his adopted family. His adopted parents were actually much nicer than his own
We see his life before he lived with his adopted family and also 50 years later.
I really enjoyed Amerigo and the Italian names.
If you are of Italian descent, you will love this book.
This was another event in history that I wasn’t aware of.
It is educational, uplifting, but also heartbreaking.
ENJOY!! 5/5
This book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received a free ARC of this excellent historical novel from Netgalley, author Viola Ardone, translator Clarissa Botsford and HarperVia, publisher. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Viola Ardone writes an intense, heart-felt story that takes you there to Naples, 1946. The fascists have been defeated in Italy, but the country is still reeling, trying to find its balance, and especially southern Italy is beaten down. Members of the underground and the new Communist party have devised a plan to send some of the more endangered children of the south to families residing in the north of Italy, families willing and able to take in these kids for the winter, to feed them and keep them warm, giving their community time to recover before the children return in the spring.
Amerigo Speranza is seven, precocious, curious, and without shoes. His Mother Mamma Antonietta is a woman often hurt who buries her own emotions and never smiles. She does sewing and piecework, and Amerigo collects rags to sell to keep food on the table. His Dad left long ago for America, and may or may not ever come back. Despite the rampant rumors spread through the children of Naples, Amerigo is open to the idea of the Kinder transport. He is to be given a coat and shoes before they board the train. He and the other children push the new coats out the window of the train to their mothers, so that they might be given to the children who stayed. The kids figure that the reds have plenty of money, they will give them another coat or keep them warm inside. And he has new shoes. He has never had new shoes before. It is a shame they are half a size too small, but they are new, and they are his.
Recovery from the effects of the War is much more advanced in the northern part of the country.
Food is available, and school is wonderful. He is a quick study and a math natural. The lady who is hosting Amerigo is sympathetic and most helpful too. Though things are still unsettled in his mind, he has an interesting, educational winter and he has a new violin made especially for him, and lessons getting him beyond the screeching and wailing of all new violinists. He has found new authority figures he respects, has found new friends along with old ones who came with him on the train. He has his first birthday party for his eighth birthday, with gifts and cake. And in the spring, some of the children choose to remain with their new families. Though Amerigo and his companions return to the south, Amerigo does not fit back into the slot he was removed from. Family is all he has, all he knows. Both his personal family and those he discovered in the north. He must decide what path to follow. And whose heart must he break to honor his own needs?
We return with him to Naples in 1994 upon the death of his mother and see him again reassessing his life, his world. He has a nephew he never knew who needs a helping hand. Will he be able to give it? Or should he just walk away…
Netgalley
One boy, two lives
This is a story about an event history, I have never been aware of before. The time is Right after the war, the place is southern Italy. The times are hard and the people are very poor. The Communist party has offered to take a train full of poor children up to Northern Italy where times are better.
Amerigo lives alone with his mother, they are very poor. His mother sends him north on the Children’s Train.
The story is about Amerigo and some of his friends that went on the Children’s Train. How they adjusted, how they grew, and their thoughts. Some returned home, some stayed, Amerigo returned home and then went back.
He always felt he had two lives, one in the south and one in the north. The story will tell how he deals with this conflict and how he finally find peace.
The story is different from others I have read. I learned a bit about something new in history. The characters were perfect, the clothing was described very well, and the settings were stated in such a way I felt like I had traveled to Italy.
I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it.
Thanks to Viola Ardone, Harpervia, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of the book in return for an honest review.
3 stars
I have just finished reading The Children’s Train by Viola Argone which has been translated from Italian by Clarissa Botford. The book is classified as historical fiction and takes place after World War II. Italy was devastated by the war. Our story is told by seven year-old Amerigo Speranza who lives with his mother who is trying to figure out how to live day by day. The reader is immediately sympathetic for this little boy who searches for rags and has no shoes that fit him. Left to wander the streets, we have a view into his life. His mother makes the decision to send him to live in communist northern Italy to live with a family. The descriptions of Amerigo getting his own shoes even though they are too small for him, and getting food that he has never had makes the reader feel very sympathetic. On the train, one of the children thinks that the ground is covered with ricotta cheese.
I found this book very hard to read and I had to set it down several times. This could be the translation. My thanks to Bookishfirst and Harper Via for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.
The Children’s Train takes place in post WWII Italy. Amerigo Speranza, the child of a emotionally distant, poverty stricken single mother in Naples is sent to northern Italy with a group of children to live with communist families for six months. The north was more affluent than the south and the goal was to feed and educate the children. Amerigo’s northern family is supportive and encouraging, and he can envision an entirely different life from that he had in Naples. When he returns to his mother and the grinding poverty and hunger, she is jealous of his northern family and takes away a wonderful gift he had received from them. He then makes a decision, the consequences of which cannot be understood by a small boy. He flees Naples back to his northern family and decides to live with and be raised by them. The book then flashes forward to Amerigo, a successful adult, returning to Naples because his mother has died. The Children’s Train is well-written and the author does a great job of writing from the perspective of a small boy, and then later, from the perspective of an adult man. The reader understands much more about what is happening than Amerigo does during the first part of the novel. The story is emotional, both sad and hopeful. One of the minor characters asks the question as to why the resources weren’t directed to the poor parents of Naples to help them, rather than separating them from their children. It is a good question. The story explores the consequences of economic disparity, of poverty, hunger and of family separation.
This book is based on true events of the effects WWII left in war torn Italy. This story follows the life of seven year old Amerigo Sperenza. It talks about his life with his mother until he hears about a train that will take him to a family up north that will take care of him. Most of the story is told through the eyes of a child showing you his innocence throughout the book. The rest of the book tells about his time with the new family and his adjustments. I was really excited to read this book because I’m a huge history fan. I ended up using this book to write a paper in my English class. The story truly shows just how devastating the World War II was and the affect it had on children at the time. I definitely would recommend this book to everyone. I will tell you that I knew i would love this book just by looking at the cover. It’s just as interesting as the book.
The Children’s Train is historical fiction at its finest. Amerigo is one of many children who were shipped up North for the winter, to see a life that is better than the poverty they’re used to. We follow Amerigo as he adapts to this new life, as he retells stories from his past, and then later on, with Amerigo now 50. Ardone covers many stages of his life, and in doing so, gives us a piece of what children like him had gone through at the end of the war.
Even though Amerigo started poorly educated, he was curious, and that curiosity lent way to his love of playing instruments. While he bumbles along at first, his adopted family is kind, they take care of him, and only want what’s best. I loved his innocence and the wonder as he was introduced to new things. I much preferred the storytelling from young Amerigo than old. I can’t imagine how torn both the parents and the children must have felt. As a parent, you could see yourself barely keeping your head above water, and wanting the best for your child. As a child, you can’t picture the thought of staying past the winter. I felt the author wrote the duality and the struggles of fitting in well. Thank you, HarperVia, for sending this along.
The Children’s Train by Viola Ardone is an interesting historical fiction novel that is based on factual events that is placed in Italy, post-WWII.
After the devastation that took place upon the Italian citizens during WWII, many were left destitute and with little options for survival of their young ones, therefore they sent them into the safety of the countryside for care while they attempted to forge a new post-war existence and try to outlast the instability within the city centers and regions.
This book was in the mindset of a young boy, Amerigo, and his specific situation concerning this event. Antonietta does the unthinkable, and sends her young son away from where they live in Naples to the countryside. His experiences with this transfer, what he sees and learns during this time, we find shape who he is and what he becomes.
This was a very interesting read in that I knew nothing of this that occurred in Italy post-war. This was eye-opening for me and just gives another example of the sacrifices families made to keep their loved ones as safe as possible.
4/5 stars
Thank you BookishFirst and HarperVia for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately. I will post this review to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.