Synopses & Reviews
"Deeply moving. . . . Joanna Scott brilliantly captures war as seen through the innocence of a child." -
BookpageAdriana Nardi is only 10 years old when Allied forces occupy her lush island home during World War II, plaguing the quiet Italian village with violence and uncertainty. Amdu is a Senegalese soldier who abandons his comrades and befriends Adriana after witnessing an unspeakable act that has far-reaching repercussions.
Decades later, on a commuter train bound for Penn Station, 60-year-old Adriana revisits her memories of the war and her doomed relationship with Amdu, even as a present crisis threatens her life.
"A prismatic and quietly powerful look at war. . . . Scott pulls off kaleidoscopic shifts of observation with a depth of vision possessed by great writers." -Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Beautifully realized, exquisitely constructed, and fascinating. . . . A calming and beautiful book to read for consolation, in these dingy times." -Washington Post Book World
"It may be about World War II, but this book is as timely as can be." -Marie Claire
"Scott's voice remains one of contemporary fiction's most eloquent and essential." -Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
It is the night of June 17, 1944, on the island of Elba, and a young girl is inside a kitchen cabinet, hiding from the war. The liberation has been set in motion. Soon the German occupation will be over and the Elbans will be free. But while history marches on, memory circles back, returning again and again to the experiences that remain unresolved and yet define us.
The girl who spends the first night of the liberation hiding in a cabinet is Adriana Nardi. Sixty years later she has become Mrs. Rundel, who, as she rides a train through the landscape of suburban New Jersey, won't let herself forget the terror of war. She remembers the sounds of battle. She remembers her childish confusion. And she remembers, as she has many times before, a Senegalese soldier named Amdu, who came to her for refuge. On the train to New York, Mrs. Rundel's effort to remember is threatened by the physical force of illness.
About the Author
Joanna Scott is the author of nine books, including The Manikin, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Various Antidotes and Arrogance, which were both finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award; and the critically acclaimed Make Believe, Tourmaline, and Liberation. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Lannan Award, she lives with her family in upstate New York.