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    The Children's Train: A Novel
    The Children's Train: A Novel
    The Children's Train: A Novel
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Children's Train: A Novel

    Written by Viola Ardone

    Narrated by Tim Campbell

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “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 explores the meaning of identity and belonging...recommended to fans of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.""  – The Library Journal

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 12, 2021
    ISBN9780062940537
    Author

    Viola Ardone

    Viola Ardone was born in Naples in 1974. A high school Latin and Italian teacher, she holds a degree in literature and worked in academic publishing. She is the author of two previous novels in Italian, La ricetta del cuore in subbuglio and Una rivoluzione sentimentale. 

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    Reviews for The Children's Train

    4/5

    56 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Digital audiobook narrated by Tim Campbell3.5*** (rounded up)NOT to be confused with The Orphan Train or other books on that subject, this is a story based on true events, set in post-WW2 Italy. Children from impoverished families in the south were sent north to wealthier communities / families who could care for them. Amerigo, the central figure in this novel, is one such child. I was not previously aware of this effort in post-war Italy, but I can understand how some parents would make the wrenching decision to send their children away for a chance at a better future. It is interesting to see how these actions by adults were interpreted by the children who were placed – for their own good – in far flung area with complete strangers, some of whom did not treat the children well. But Amerigo is lucky in that the family he joins welcomes him and his foster father recognizes and nurtures Amerigo’s love of music. But this nurturing environment is temporary, and as the country recovers from the deprivations of war, Amerigo is reunited with mother. A child’s love for his mother may be unwavering, but who can blame him for wanting more than his mother can give, especially once he’s had a taste of those riches? How can the mother reconcile her original selfless decision to send her child to safety with the result of a child who is returned so different from the one she sent away – a child who has been exposed to “more” and naturally wants more now? While the novel raised some interesting questions (and I look forward to my F2F book club discussion), I was left somewhat dissatisfied. The novel is told in four parts. The first two parts take place in 1946 chronicling Amerigo’s journey north and his experiences there; Part three covers his return to his mother, still impoverished; and Part Four jumps forward to 1994 when 50-year-old Amerigo returns for a visit to Naples. I wish Ardone had spent some time on the intervening years to give us more insight into Amerigo’s development. As it was I didn’t fully understand the person Amerigo became. Still, there were several scenes that really captured the emotion of the situations both young Amerigo and middle-aged Amerigo experienced. The audiobook was narrated by Tim Campbell, who did a fine job. He’s believable as both a seven-year-old frightened and impressionable young boy and as a 50-year-old man reflecting on his relationship with his mother. The story does remind me of other similar situations of which I’m aware. Of course, the aforementioned orphan trains in Depression-era USA, but also the millions of children who were evacuated during WW2 to other countries, in efforts to spare them the horrors of war. One woman I know through a mutual professional association was a child when, first, she and her mother had to leave their Jersey home to avoid the Nazi occupation of that island, and later when her mother sent Jayne from London to the US to avoid the worst of the Blitz. Nine-year-old Jayne landed in a suburb of Milwaukee with a well-off family, where she lived for her formative years. When she returned to England to rejoin her mother she was a 16-year-old teenager and not at all happy to be uprooted from her friends in the USA. Once she was of age, she wrote to her foster father in Wisconsin, who welcomed her back and agreed to help her get established here. Our book club read her memoir - This Token Of Freedom - in 2015. The same book club will be discussing Ardone’s book in January 2022.
    • 4/5
      Set in Naples after WWII, life is hard for Amerigo Spranza and his mother. He and his friend, Tommasino run the streets looking for rags and sometimes attend school - math is Amerigo's best subject. Word comes that a "children's train" will send some children to northern Italy to places where they can achieve an education and better life - maybe returning and maybe not.Amerigo's mother, Antonietta, is seemingly cold and distant, but life has been hard for her. She makes the decision to send Amerigo north on the train. Here he is taken in by a loving family, has a room of his own, and experiences a loving family life. He expresses a love for music and is given violin lessons.Months later he is forced to return to Naples. His mother and he clash as he struggles to get back to an earlier life. After his violin seemingly disappears, his mother tells him "it is for the best." After an argument, he runs away to the train station and manages to board the train along with a woman and her children.The last part of the book is years later when Amerigo now goes by the last name of his northern family and is a renowned violinist traveling the world for concerts. He is returning to Naples after hearing of his mother's death and finding out that she had another child, Augusto who is imprisoned along with his wife leaving a young son alone. The last part of the book makes the entire book worth reading and Amerigo deals with the guilt and remembrances of his mother and his earlier life and the fortune he has also received from his other family.Not usually a fan of first-person narratives, this one is believable yet touching without sentimentality. Good story.
    • 5/5
      1946:  in the aftermath of World War II, seven year old Amerigo lives with his mother, Antoinetta in the ravaged and defeated town of Naples, Southern Italy.  Amerigo and his mother try to make ends meet as best they can, but collecting rags and mending means they are just scraping by.  A Communist group offers refuge for the children of the South, placing children on a train to live temporarily with families in the North.  Antoinetta makes the decision to put Amerigo on one of the trains.  Amerigo is confused and upset; however, once he is with his temporary family in the North, Amerigo receives new shoes, clothes, plenty of food and the feeling of a warm and loving family.  His northern family also develops his love for music. Amerigo returns home to find that nothing has changed while everything has changed.The Children's Train is a powerful and heartfelt story of hope, finding home and family.  Most of the story is told from seven-year-old Amerigo's point of view. Amerigo's voice is rambling, taking in everything as a child would see and understand it.  Most interesting were the views of his mother and his home.  Antoinetta came off as harsh, but surviving.  Amerigo would always say that many things were not her strong point, realizing that his mother did not show affection in typical ways.  The story examines Amerigo's views of politics and hospitality versus charity as he became used to life in Northern Italy.  I was intrigued as Amerigo begins to see the impact of the decisions adults madee for him and that love can have many different forms.  The last third of the book skips to the year 1994 when Amerigo returns to Naples and begins to see the further impact of his mother's decisions.  This was the most moving part of the story for me as Amerigo realizes the different paths that his life could have taken. This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      If you learn one thing from this novel, it will be “There are no easy answers.” During World War II Naples, Italy was occupied by the Germans and the Allies destroyed it with bombs. Because of the conditions once peace was established, the Italian Communist Party organized a children’s relief operation sending children north to Bologna where they lived with families until things improved in the south. Seven-year-old Amerigo Speranza was one of these children. He loved his family. His guardian was middle-aged spinster, and he spent the time she was at work with her sister’s family. He had stability, love and enough to eat, things his single mom could not provide. And best of all he learned how to play the violin. When he was returned to Naples, his mother sold his violin and sent him to apprentice with a cobbler. He was so unhappy he returned to his family in the north and eventually became a concert violinist. After his mother’s death, he returned to Naples and found he now had a nephew to care for since the nephew’s parents were incarcerated. Not only does he feel the need to help his nephew, but he must come to terms with why his mother treated him like she did. This is a much more powerful story than I had expected.
    • 4/5
      I found myself engrossed and moved by this book. It was told from the point of view of Amerigo who was a child of seven or eight for most of the book, and it was so well done. I was made to see things as Amerigo did and to feel his fear, pain, and confusion. There was some humor for the reader too, though it was sometimes lost on young Amerigo.There were certainly sad an bittersweet moments as well. I can't imagine how hard it would have been for Amerigo's mother, Antonietta, to make the decision to send him away, even if it seemed to be for his own good. Initially, I don't know that there was a right or wrong decision for her to make, so it was sad to see the way she acted after making her choice. It seemed that guilt, pride, and jealousy affected many of her words and actions.It was also sad to see the way Amerigo, years later, still felt pain and regret about choices he made as a child and even about choices that were made for him. Even so, this wasn't a depressing book.It was interesting to read about this segment of history, and I really felt myself drawn into Amerigo's story. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or books that explore themes of family and identity.Thank you BookishFirst for the early read.
    • 3/5
      "The memory of you will not lose its bloom; all the years I spent far away from you have turned into a long love letter. Every note I played, I played for you." - p. 283The Children's Train had a slow start. Part I seemed to hold with it the challenges of interpreting a novel from Italian to English, it felt choppy and hard to relate to with much of the Italian culture being "lost in translation" perhaps. However, part II really kicked the book off for me as the story began to truly unravel. Children were sent from their families that couldn't support them and were sent north to families that volunteered to care for, feed and welcome them into their own families. While the Italian culture may show love differently, the love mothers and fathers had for their children regardless of the hard decisions they faced was evident. Struggling to make ends meet, love took different forms from those Children's Train kids after the atrocities and devastation of WWII. From the view of a young boy, concluding with the recollections of a grown man returning home for one last time, this is a beautiful story of love in all forms and sacrifice. *Disclaimer: a review copy was provided by the publisher, all opinions are my own.
    • 4/5
      Not your usual WWII Historical Fiction novel. Narrated by 7 year old Amerigo it is a heartouching tale of a young boy who is sent far from his mother and the life he has known, into the home of strangers and a lifestyle far different than his.
      Set at the end of WWII, the Nazis and Mussolini have been defeated, but the affects of the War still ravage southern Italy and the village where Amerigo lives. Still facing poverty and hunger, Amerigo's mother makes a heart wrenching decision, to give her son a chance at a bit of a better life. That decision is to send him on a train that has been organized by the communist party to take impoverished children from southern Italy and unite them with wealthy families from northern Italy were the devastation of war seems to have not hit so bad.
      Though frightened and unsure of what lies ahead, Amerigo bravely faces the train ride north with two of his friends from the village. Upon arrival the threesome is separated, each going to a family and to the new start for them.
      This is a book about how much you give up to gain a better life. And of exactly what "a better" life actually means. The meaning for one person is not the same as to another and young Amerigo learns this and much much more, about love, the bonds that tie you not only to family but to the place you are from. It is about difficult choices and the price paid or the guilt carried from the decisions made.
      This is not a sad story, told from Amerigo's 7year old perspective on it is light and enjoyable to read, but also thought provoking. All in all a delightful novel, suited to all historical fiction fans!
    • 5/5
      THE CHILDREN'S TRAIN encompasses Post-World War II Italy from the mind of a child fearfully separated from his mother in Naples and sent to live among Communist families in Northern Italy. Many themes are introduced. The shame of poverty, as seven year old Amerigo searches the streets and alleys for rags that his mother can sell, is represented by the condition of people's shoes. Abandonment by an unknown father affects his self esteem and social development. Amerigo's confidence begins to grow as he is accepted and loved by people up North where he finally has enough food, decent clothes, and real new shoes.His talent as a violin player is discovered and nurtured.All this is taken away when he returns home to his mother, forcing him to flee back up North. Eventually, he becomes a famous musician.The fascinating story, with many disparate views of politics, reads smoothly until his mother dies. His feelings reveal both a strange need to keep lying needlessly and intense "I - I -I" self concern as he prepares to leave his poor nephew with nothing.