Valentine Cardinale
It’s the height of World War II, but Italian immigrants Anna and Arturo Terranova and their four children have high hopes as they settle into their new apartment in a colorful, working-class section of Manhattan’s West Side. They are finally coming together as a family. Then suddenly the war, which seemed so far away, comes crashing into their lives and changes them in a tragic and profound way. It won’t be the last time this warm, loving family is tested by armed conflict.Follow the Terranovas from 1944 right up to the present as they struggle to make their dreams come true in a country caught up in war time and time again. Can they overcome the terrible emotional toll that several different wars take on them and their loved ones?Inspired in part by the author’s life growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, this is more than a story about war and what it can do to people on America’s home front. It’s also a story about the power of family and togetherness in the face of the destructive and divisive force of war and terrorism. It’s a story of hope for our times.
