Love in all forms

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jill rey Avatar

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"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. 283

The 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.