The Children's Train by Viola Ardone

 Based on true events, set in post-World War II Italy, about poor children from the south sent to live with families in the north to survive deprivation.

The war has devastated Italy, especially south. Seven-year-old Amerigo Sperenza lives with his mother in Naples, surviving on odd jobs. But one day, Amerigo learns that a train will take him north to a better place.

In the north, he adapts well to his new surroundings and adopted family. At school, he proves to be good with numbers. With his adopted father he fixes instruments. But his ambitions are much higher. He wants to play those instruments, and not just tune them.

At 75%, the story shifts fifty years later. And some chapters bring the voice of Amerigo as he is talking to his late mother. It reveals how things followed in his early age and he also reconnects with some lost friendships.

The voice of a grown-up Amerigo is interesting and reads well. However, I enjoyed the wit and the voice of him as a boy so much that I wished it just followed the young voice to almost the end or for a longer time. I wasn’t ready to part with the voice of the boy when it happened.

I enjoyed a lot the innocent voice of Amerigo, who for example, thinks he can get to America by train until another child explains that he needs to take a ship. But at the time, he doesn’t have anyone to confirm that America is on the other side of the sea.

At some points, he made me laugh out loud. “I look the bull in the face and can see he has a nasty temper, a bit like Mamma Antonietta, who is sweet and nice, but when you get in her way, she literally sees red.”

Amerigo is such a loveable character. I usually prefer voice of an adult, but he turns out to be probably the most memorable character I have ever encountered.

It is a moving story of self-exploration, the choices we face and make, especially when it comes to family. Those are the hardest decisions. What does family truly mean?

Written with heartfelt prose, with well-drawn characters facing hardships and struggles, thus well-depicting the time period, and keeping the plot moving forward at all times.

Release date: 12 January 2021

Source: HarperVia