Amerigo lives with his mother in a precarious livelihood in postwar-Naples. They live scraping by day by day and minute by minute. The book gives an excellent feel of what life was like for the people in this area and the shear destitution that they faced. Amerigo's mother makes the choice to deport him on the children's train to Moderna where he will live with a woman that will take care of his needs. I like the way his life opens up and truly begins from that point and really felt the emotion of what he was going through missing his mother and just experiencing tremendous guilt from his feelings. He becomes part of a family and this is something that he has never really been before. After he is acclimated, he returns to Naples and feels tremendous loss and that he no longer belongs. This book is about making tough choices and how they affect a person throughout their life ultimately. I want to definitely read more from this author in the future.