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Miracle at St. Anna
Inspired by a historical incident that took place in the village of St. Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany and by the experiences of the famed Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Division in Italy during World War II, Miracle at St. Anna is a singular evocation of war, cruelty, passion, heroism, and love. It is the story of four American soldiers, the villagers among whom they take refuge, a band of partisans, and an Italian boy, all of whom encounter a miracle - though perhaps the true miracle lies in themselves.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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5493 people want to read
About the author
James McBride
28 books7,731 followersJames McBride is a native New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools. He studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in New York at age 22. He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. He is married with three children. He lives in Pennsylvania and New York.
James McBride is a former staff writer for The Washington Post, People Magazine, and The Boston Globe. His work has also appeared in Essence, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. His April, 2007 National Geographic story entitled “Hip Hop Planet” is considered a respected treatise on African American music and culture.
As a musician, he has written songs (music and lyrics) for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., and Gary Burton, among others. He served as a tenor saxophone sideman for jazz legend Little Jimmy Scott. He is the recipient of several awards for his work as a composer in musical theater including the Stephen Sondheim Award and the Richard Rodgers Foundation Horizon Award. His “Riffin’ and Pontificatin’ ” Tour, a nationwide tour of high schools and colleges promoting reading through jazz, was captured in a 2003 Comcast documentary. He has been featured on national radio and television programs in America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
---from his official website
James McBride is a former staff writer for The Washington Post, People Magazine, and The Boston Globe. His work has also appeared in Essence, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. His April, 2007 National Geographic story entitled “Hip Hop Planet” is considered a respected treatise on African American music and culture.
As a musician, he has written songs (music and lyrics) for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., and Gary Burton, among others. He served as a tenor saxophone sideman for jazz legend Little Jimmy Scott. He is the recipient of several awards for his work as a composer in musical theater including the Stephen Sondheim Award and the Richard Rodgers Foundation Horizon Award. His “Riffin’ and Pontificatin’ ” Tour, a nationwide tour of high schools and colleges promoting reading through jazz, was captured in a 2003 Comcast documentary. He has been featured on national radio and television programs in America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
---from his official website
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 598 reviews
January 28, 2013
I enjoyed this story about a troop of African-American soldiers fighting for the States in Italy. McBride is a very talented writer. I think he told the story very well; he captured the Italian mentality, especially towards superstition and how they viewed people different from themselves (in those days, anyway, the grotesqueness of war).
The "funny" thing about the African-American soldiers was that they were freer in Italy than they were in their own country. For me, that fact posed a few questions, for example, who exactly were the soldiers fighting for? A nation that didn't recognize them as equals? A nation in which they were not free themselves?
The characters in the story were very diverse and interesting. The ending wasn't exactly what I expected but, all in all,I loved this book.
The "funny" thing about the African-American soldiers was that they were freer in Italy than they were in their own country. For me, that fact posed a few questions, for example, who exactly were the soldiers fighting for? A nation that didn't recognize them as equals? A nation in which they were not free themselves?
The characters in the story were very diverse and interesting. The ending wasn't exactly what I expected but, all in all,I loved this book.
November 11, 2024
This was the first James McBride book I read, and I loved every minute of every page. I had watched the movie first, so I was biased to love it given I loved the movie. Yup, using that L word A LOT. Actually, Song Yet Sung might've been my first, but that's beside the point. (These two are my favorites by him.) It touched my heart deeply, and it's one of the few World War II books I've really loved. It was also the first time I had heard of the racism within the US army as well and the resulting extra bravery required of the Black soldiers. It made war human versus a strategy for world domination.
October 19, 2021
Bufali e bufale
Metti quattro soldati che varcando il Serchio, lungo la Linea Gotica, si ritrovino isolati da tutto il resto della loro divisione.
Metti che questa divisione sia la 92ª Divisione «Buffalo», ossia quella dove furono accorpati i soldati afroamericani.
Metti che tutto questo accada per salvare un bambino, un piccolo orfanello che si ritrova in mezzo la fuoco incrociato.
McBride – come racconta in postfazione- cresce sentendo spesso racconti di guerra da parte dello zio ed alcuni suoi amici.
Questa romanzo (pubblicato nel 2002) ha primariamente l'intento di riportare alla luce la presenza afroamericana nella II° Guerra.
Siamo nel 1944 e i tedeschi sentono che la fine si avvicina e per tutta risposta sfogano una brutalità, in realtà, mai sopita.
A dieci chilometri si estende la Linea Gotica: il confine tracciato per arroccarsi e che diventa metafora di altri steccati.
Sono linee altrettanto immaginarie ed altrettanto dolorose che separano gli uomini:
quel solco profondo e doloroso tra bianchi e neri e l’infelice separazione italiana tra fascisti ed antifascisti.
La storia di McBride è zuccherosa nel suo voler conciliare le parti e nella piega fantasiosa in stile realismo magico.
560 persone trucidate a Sant’Anna di Stazzema e io –ingenuamente- rimango sempre sorpresa quando mi capita di parlare con persone che non conoscono la storia di questo eccidio (ma probabilmente neppure le altre).
Una storia che cerca di riequilibrare le parti affermando che male e bene sono dovunque.
Una pacificazione che, secondo l’autore, è possibile solo leggendo il perdono negli occhi di un bambino.
Questa è la favola.
La realtà è che ci sono ferite insanabili.
Se devo riferirmi ad oggi, guardando le immagini televisive di questi giorni, sinceramente, non trovo occhi innocenti con cui conciliarmi ma sono piuttosto incline al disgusto per connazionali che credono ancora ( e ancora, e ancora....) che il fascismo sia un valore.
Mi pare che il libro sia stato abbastanza ignorato mentre il film di Spike Lee (2008) ha generato molte polemiche per la decisione da parte del regista (che è in origine è di McBride) di raccontare l’eccidio di Sant’Anna di Stazzema come evento causato dal tradimento di un partigiano mentre in realtà fu un vero e proprio atto terroristico nazista realizzato grazie al contributo attivo di fascisti della zona che guidarono i nazisti (nello specifico quattro compagnie del secondo battaglione del 35esimo reggimento della 16esima divisione volontari delle Waffen SS, di fanteria meccanizzata.)per gli impervi sentieri.
McBride, prima, e Spike Lee, poi, hanno messo in atto sicuramente una lettura storica non veritiera (ecco magari chiamarlo revisionismo mi pare eccessivo) e altrettanto indubbio è il fatto che l’elemento miracoloso che oscilla tra il magico ed il mistico sia eccessivo.
Il valore di questo romanzo è, semmai, quello di riportare alla luce contemporaneamente la storia del 92° battaglione e quella degli eccidi (numerosi!) nazifascisti.
Lettura che spinge ad informarsi
Tutto è valido purché se ne parli?
Non, esattamente ma: tutto è valido purché se ne discuta..
Metti quattro soldati che varcando il Serchio, lungo la Linea Gotica, si ritrovino isolati da tutto il resto della loro divisione.
Metti che questa divisione sia la 92ª Divisione «Buffalo», ossia quella dove furono accorpati i soldati afroamericani.
Metti che tutto questo accada per salvare un bambino, un piccolo orfanello che si ritrova in mezzo la fuoco incrociato.
McBride – come racconta in postfazione- cresce sentendo spesso racconti di guerra da parte dello zio ed alcuni suoi amici.
Questa romanzo (pubblicato nel 2002) ha primariamente l'intento di riportare alla luce la presenza afroamericana nella II° Guerra.
Siamo nel 1944 e i tedeschi sentono che la fine si avvicina e per tutta risposta sfogano una brutalità, in realtà, mai sopita.
A dieci chilometri si estende la Linea Gotica: il confine tracciato per arroccarsi e che diventa metafora di altri steccati.
Sono linee altrettanto immaginarie ed altrettanto dolorose che separano gli uomini:
quel solco profondo e doloroso tra bianchi e neri e l’infelice separazione italiana tra fascisti ed antifascisti.
La storia di McBride è zuccherosa nel suo voler conciliare le parti e nella piega fantasiosa in stile realismo magico.
560 persone trucidate a Sant’Anna di Stazzema e io –ingenuamente- rimango sempre sorpresa quando mi capita di parlare con persone che non conoscono la storia di questo eccidio (ma probabilmente neppure le altre).
Una storia che cerca di riequilibrare le parti affermando che male e bene sono dovunque.
Una pacificazione che, secondo l’autore, è possibile solo leggendo il perdono negli occhi di un bambino.
Questa è la favola.
La realtà è che ci sono ferite insanabili.
Se devo riferirmi ad oggi, guardando le immagini televisive di questi giorni, sinceramente, non trovo occhi innocenti con cui conciliarmi ma sono piuttosto incline al disgusto per connazionali che credono ancora ( e ancora, e ancora....) che il fascismo sia un valore.
Mi pare che il libro sia stato abbastanza ignorato mentre il film di Spike Lee (2008) ha generato molte polemiche per la decisione da parte del regista (che è in origine è di McBride) di raccontare l’eccidio di Sant’Anna di Stazzema come evento causato dal tradimento di un partigiano mentre in realtà fu un vero e proprio atto terroristico nazista realizzato grazie al contributo attivo di fascisti della zona che guidarono i nazisti (nello specifico quattro compagnie del secondo battaglione del 35esimo reggimento della 16esima divisione volontari delle Waffen SS, di fanteria meccanizzata.)per gli impervi sentieri.
McBride, prima, e Spike Lee, poi, hanno messo in atto sicuramente una lettura storica non veritiera (ecco magari chiamarlo revisionismo mi pare eccessivo) e altrettanto indubbio è il fatto che l’elemento miracoloso che oscilla tra il magico ed il mistico sia eccessivo.
Il valore di questo romanzo è, semmai, quello di riportare alla luce contemporaneamente la storia del 92° battaglione e quella degli eccidi (numerosi!) nazifascisti.
Lettura che spinge ad informarsi
Tutto è valido purché se ne parli?
Non, esattamente ma: tutto è valido purché se ne discuta..
May 26, 2021
Read back in high school. I really enjoyed it.
Highlighted African-American soldiers in Italy during World War II who were in a small town while trying to root out Nazis in the area. They, along with their fellow white soldiers, become involved with the locals of St. Anna and things start to change.
It is a challenging novel because not every character is likable, though I believe that is the point. Some are genuinely just, some are innocent to a fault, and some are selfish. The story is ultimately about the consequences of our actions and how, even through the most horrible things, goodness can triumph.
Highlighted African-American soldiers in Italy during World War II who were in a small town while trying to root out Nazis in the area. They, along with their fellow white soldiers, become involved with the locals of St. Anna and things start to change.
It is a challenging novel because not every character is likable, though I believe that is the point. Some are genuinely just, some are innocent to a fault, and some are selfish. The story is ultimately about the consequences of our actions and how, even through the most horrible things, goodness can triumph.
November 10, 2017
From the book jacket: McBride was inspired by an historical incident that took place in a Tuscan village and by the experiences of the Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Division, who served in Italy during World War II. It is the story of four American soldiers, the villagers among whom they take refuge, a band of partisans, and an Italian boy, all of whom encounter a miracle.
My reactions:
Like any good war story, McBride includes dangerous situations, tense relationships, descriptions of brutality, and strong characters who behave admirably in dire circumstances. Sam Train is a giant of a man, with limited intellectual capacity, but a strong faith and a tender heart. Bishop Cummings is a minister from Kansas City, but he seems more interested in gambling than fighting. Hector Negron is a Puerto Rican from Harlem who resents having been assigned to the Negro division, but whose modest knowledge of Italian is crucial to their mission. Second Lieutenant Aubry Stamps is an educated man, who went to officer candidate school, but is unable to understand or connect with the rural Southern blacks he is commanding. And then we have Angelo, the young Italian boy who has witnessed atrocities no one should have to see, and who is nearly dead when Train plucks him from the rubble.
I like magical realism, and McBride does a reasonably good job of using this technique. But he does not sugarcoat the realities of war, or of the conditions the villagers endured in Tuscany during this time period. The writing is realistic and visceral, though he does add small scenes of compassion that serve to ease the tension. At heart it is a story of brotherhood, redemption, and the power of love and faith.
A few passages really struck me:
To fight the enemy? Which enemy? The Germans? The Italians? The enemy was irony and truth and hypocrisy, that was the real enemy. That was the enemy that was killing him.
A Negro was trying to make rent, save up enough to buy milk for his kids, survive this fucked-up war, and still, when the war was over, when all the fighting was done and all the people made up, a German could go to America and live well, start a factory, work in business, run a bank, while Stamps would still be … a nigger. He’d be lucky to get a job delivering their mail.
And this description of the Mountain of the Sleeping Man:
Once you see him, you cannot escape him. He follows you everywhere you walk, morning, noon or night, his gargantuan face just over your shoulder – an enraged, snoozing ogre, about to awaken.
My reactions:
Like any good war story, McBride includes dangerous situations, tense relationships, descriptions of brutality, and strong characters who behave admirably in dire circumstances. Sam Train is a giant of a man, with limited intellectual capacity, but a strong faith and a tender heart. Bishop Cummings is a minister from Kansas City, but he seems more interested in gambling than fighting. Hector Negron is a Puerto Rican from Harlem who resents having been assigned to the Negro division, but whose modest knowledge of Italian is crucial to their mission. Second Lieutenant Aubry Stamps is an educated man, who went to officer candidate school, but is unable to understand or connect with the rural Southern blacks he is commanding. And then we have Angelo, the young Italian boy who has witnessed atrocities no one should have to see, and who is nearly dead when Train plucks him from the rubble.
I like magical realism, and McBride does a reasonably good job of using this technique. But he does not sugarcoat the realities of war, or of the conditions the villagers endured in Tuscany during this time period. The writing is realistic and visceral, though he does add small scenes of compassion that serve to ease the tension. At heart it is a story of brotherhood, redemption, and the power of love and faith.
A few passages really struck me:
To fight the enemy? Which enemy? The Germans? The Italians? The enemy was irony and truth and hypocrisy, that was the real enemy. That was the enemy that was killing him.
A Negro was trying to make rent, save up enough to buy milk for his kids, survive this fucked-up war, and still, when the war was over, when all the fighting was done and all the people made up, a German could go to America and live well, start a factory, work in business, run a bank, while Stamps would still be … a nigger. He’d be lucky to get a job delivering their mail.
And this description of the Mountain of the Sleeping Man:
Once you see him, you cannot escape him. He follows you everywhere you walk, morning, noon or night, his gargantuan face just over your shoulder – an enraged, snoozing ogre, about to awaken.
September 19, 2018
Miracle at St. Anna is a 2003 American-Italian epic war story. Set primarily in Italy during German-occupied Europe in World War II, the book tells the story of four Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division who seek refuge in a small Tuscan village, where they form a bond with the residents. The story is presented as a flashback, as one survivor, Hector Negron, reflects upon his experiences in a frame story set in 1980s New York. Several real-life events that occurred during the war, such as the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre, are re-enacted, placing Miracle at St. Anna within the genre of historical fiction.
I love James McBride having read his first book/memoir about his mother entitled "The Color of Water" and his National Book Award winner entitled "The Good Lord Bird", about a slave who unites with John Brown in Brown's abolitionist mission. Both tremendous books.
I am sorry to say I do not feel the same about this book. It just never grabbed me the way the others did. Maybe I am just tired of war stories, but tried this anyway because of my respect for McBride's writing.
Ironically, the book was made into a movie in 2008, directed by Spike Lee. From what I have read , it was not very popular or well received.
3 stars
I love James McBride having read his first book/memoir about his mother entitled "The Color of Water" and his National Book Award winner entitled "The Good Lord Bird", about a slave who unites with John Brown in Brown's abolitionist mission. Both tremendous books.
I am sorry to say I do not feel the same about this book. It just never grabbed me the way the others did. Maybe I am just tired of war stories, but tried this anyway because of my respect for McBride's writing.
Ironically, the book was made into a movie in 2008, directed by Spike Lee. From what I have read , it was not very popular or well received.
3 stars
July 6, 2009
I loved this book. Loved the way it was written, the story it told, the poetry that moved within the sentences.
Set in Italy, towards the end of World War II...the lives of four men are changed forever. The simplicity of the Chocolate Giant as he lets love take over, the avoidance techniques of Bishop as he hides from what he's really hiding from, the strength of Hector who just wants to do what's right, and the leadership supplied by Stamps, who just wants it all to end. Mix up these four men into the lives of Italian villagers who just want to survive...and you get a story that really is a miracle.
I raced through this book, wanted to spend much more time reading each day than i actually could. When the ending arrived...i was sad, angry, frustrated, deeply involved...the sign of a great book and a good author...is to evoke all that.
Set in Italy, towards the end of World War II...the lives of four men are changed forever. The simplicity of the Chocolate Giant as he lets love take over, the avoidance techniques of Bishop as he hides from what he's really hiding from, the strength of Hector who just wants to do what's right, and the leadership supplied by Stamps, who just wants it all to end. Mix up these four men into the lives of Italian villagers who just want to survive...and you get a story that really is a miracle.
I raced through this book, wanted to spend much more time reading each day than i actually could. When the ending arrived...i was sad, angry, frustrated, deeply involved...the sign of a great book and a good author...is to evoke all that.
April 10, 2010
I'm torn on what to rate this book. I was sure it was a five most of the way through, but then had a major gripe with the ending. If ever there was a "4 1/2" star book it would be this.
A wonderful book that hooked me from the first chapter. The preview chapter was so intriguing that I didn't want to read the rest...I HAD to read the rest. And the rest didn't disappoint. The plot, four minority soldiers find an emotionally damaged boy behind German lines in WWII Italy and end up in a purgatory of infighting, secrets, horror and abandonment, was beautifully crafted. It moved at just the right pace, never so fast that you lost track of detail in the rush, and never so slow that you felt bogged down by every last little bit of exposition.
And the structure was fascinating. It has the feel of a dual narrative novel, a structure that gets confusing if done poorly, but if done well has a flow to it, letting your mind relax from one narrative and process what's happened while you see someone else in a different situation. Here, the alternate stream wasn't a narrative train, but a collection of short narratives about related characters, segments of history, and expansion on the different cultures that were meeting.
The whole thing was brilliantly done. The chapter on the history of the statue head was what made me decide I needed to own this book. The chapter on Italy during and after the war was deeply moving and human. The seperate narrative about the officers in charge of the company was fascinating.
But there is one major flaw to this book. The ending. Not even the ending of the plot, because that was fine. The way the ending detailed "what happened" in the minds of each character. The story has five main characters, the four soldiers and the boy. It has four second level characters: A woman who helps the soldiers, her father, and two partisans. Of the main characters, only four have actual endings. Of the four secondary characters, only one or two have endings depending on your point of view.
When I say endings, I mean one final moment for the reader to see the character before they leave the narrative for a variety of reasons. Several characters find happiness, or meaning in their lives, or even redemption. But the rest of the ending seems slapped on, like McBride was pulling an all-nighter on a school project and around 3 AM said 'that's good enough.'
I could forgive even the clumsy handling of the secondary characters, but my favorite of the main characters seemed to be left nowhere. What happens with him is described, but he doesn't get the chance to express it himself, to sum anything up, or to leave the text on a note of completion. The others do, and it really bothered me! I was left thinking less of a book that I had absolutely loved up to that point, because a character that had been very important up until then seemed to be simply forgotten about by his author.
Still, on the whole the book was good enough that I'll stick with five stars. For now. You know, unless I change my mind which I'm bound to. Repeatedly!
A wonderful book that hooked me from the first chapter. The preview chapter was so intriguing that I didn't want to read the rest...I HAD to read the rest. And the rest didn't disappoint. The plot, four minority soldiers find an emotionally damaged boy behind German lines in WWII Italy and end up in a purgatory of infighting, secrets, horror and abandonment, was beautifully crafted. It moved at just the right pace, never so fast that you lost track of detail in the rush, and never so slow that you felt bogged down by every last little bit of exposition.
And the structure was fascinating. It has the feel of a dual narrative novel, a structure that gets confusing if done poorly, but if done well has a flow to it, letting your mind relax from one narrative and process what's happened while you see someone else in a different situation. Here, the alternate stream wasn't a narrative train, but a collection of short narratives about related characters, segments of history, and expansion on the different cultures that were meeting.
The whole thing was brilliantly done. The chapter on the history of the statue head was what made me decide I needed to own this book. The chapter on Italy during and after the war was deeply moving and human. The seperate narrative about the officers in charge of the company was fascinating.
But there is one major flaw to this book. The ending. Not even the ending of the plot, because that was fine. The way the ending detailed "what happened" in the minds of each character. The story has five main characters, the four soldiers and the boy. It has four second level characters: A woman who helps the soldiers, her father, and two partisans. Of the main characters, only four have actual endings. Of the four secondary characters, only one or two have endings depending on your point of view.
When I say endings, I mean one final moment for the reader to see the character before they leave the narrative for a variety of reasons. Several characters find happiness, or meaning in their lives, or even redemption. But the rest of the ending seems slapped on, like McBride was pulling an all-nighter on a school project and around 3 AM said 'that's good enough.'
I could forgive even the clumsy handling of the secondary characters, but my favorite of the main characters seemed to be left nowhere. What happens with him is described, but he doesn't get the chance to express it himself, to sum anything up, or to leave the text on a note of completion. The others do, and it really bothered me! I was left thinking less of a book that I had absolutely loved up to that point, because a character that had been very important up until then seemed to be simply forgotten about by his author.
Still, on the whole the book was good enough that I'll stick with five stars. For now. You know, unless I change my mind which I'm bound to. Repeatedly!
September 29, 2017
Although this is a work of fiction, the book was inspired by actual events from "... the collected experiences of black soldiers who served in the Serchio Valley and Apuane Alps of Italy during WWII."
Beautifully written. A compulsive read: another one I couldn't put down.
Beautifully written. A compulsive read: another one I couldn't put down.
November 28, 2022
Powerful.Devastating.Lyrical. A gem.
March 20, 2015
We read this in our church group, mostly because everyone got to suggest a book and three of the men are WWII veterans, God bless them. The man who suggested this book fought in this particular area and he heard it was an accurate depiction of the terrain.
One hears little about this part of the war where the Germans fortified positions telling their soldiers to fight to the death. Having seen part of this terrain, it is amazing that anyone made it more than 100 yard without dying.
This story is about several Negro soldiers essentially caught behind the enemy lines on a scouting expedition. Most of this story has to do with built in prejudice, reaction to that prejudice and the relationships which come about with people in an Italian village. It is a powerful and yet sad account of not only the way war is fought but of the separations that exist between people. I was so impressed with this book that I wrote a letter to Mr. McBride telling him how much I enjoyed his book.
It is very well written and the characters are well-developed, sometimes sadly. I wasn't too keen on a book about war, but the interaction truly warms your heart.
One hears little about this part of the war where the Germans fortified positions telling their soldiers to fight to the death. Having seen part of this terrain, it is amazing that anyone made it more than 100 yard without dying.
This story is about several Negro soldiers essentially caught behind the enemy lines on a scouting expedition. Most of this story has to do with built in prejudice, reaction to that prejudice and the relationships which come about with people in an Italian village. It is a powerful and yet sad account of not only the way war is fought but of the separations that exist between people. I was so impressed with this book that I wrote a letter to Mr. McBride telling him how much I enjoyed his book.
It is very well written and the characters are well-developed, sometimes sadly. I wasn't too keen on a book about war, but the interaction truly warms your heart.
July 12, 2009
I bought this book months ago, but kept passing it over for other supposedly 'more interesting' reading - so was caught off guard as I began reading it and became engrossed in this story of the black soldiers (Buffalo Soldier) of WWII. The setting is the Italian countryside with the final German stand before the end of the war. The story revolves around 4 American soldiers, the young Italian boy they rescued who needs medical attention, and the Italian people they met in the village below the St. Anna di Stazzema church - and of course, the miracles experienced there.
War stories are not my preferred genre, but this is mostly a story of the human social/political condition - the division between black and white Americans in this era, the ongoing battle between Italian facists and partisans, but most important to me, the compassion and humanity that can overcome these combative circumstances.
War stories are not my preferred genre, but this is mostly a story of the human social/political condition - the division between black and white Americans in this era, the ongoing battle between Italian facists and partisans, but most important to me, the compassion and humanity that can overcome these combative circumstances.
August 9, 2010
Prior to getting into this novel, I had heard mixed emotions about the movie (which I have never seen) based upon James McBride's "Miracle at St. Anna" and directed by Spike Lee. Yet, one thing I've learned is that the book is almost always better than the movie.
"Miracle at St. Anna" was never on my list of books to read, but a friend of mine had come for a visit and while she was here, she had finished this novel and decided to leave it for me (I'm not one to turn down a free book). In the end, I'm glad that I had a chance to read this because "Miracle at St. Anna" portrays an unfamiliar side of WWII. The story follows a group of four buffalo soldiers who find themselves stranded in an Italian village - personally, I know very little of the Italian point of view during WWII, as well as that of African-American soldiers.
What I found interesting were the diverse dynamics and relationships throughout the book - buffalo soldiers/Italians, buffalo soldiers/white soldiers, Train/Angelo, the interaction within the group of the four African-American soldiers... the list goes on. In addition, I felt that the character development was excellent. Each of the four soldiers had such contrasting personalities, and I thought McBride did an excellent job of depicting this (and also with the other notable characters).
The storyline itself was quite interesting, as the paths of the buffalo soldiers, Italian villagers and partisans all converged. Without blatantly going into an all-out blitz concerning the massacre at St. Anna, McBride did just enough to show the reader its horrors. I'm not sure whether or not the "present day" subplot of Hector Negron (which appears at the beginning and end of the novel) is really necessary. I understand that it ties everything together (and to my knowledge, it is what much of the movie is based on), however, the meat of the novel lies within the time during WWII, and to me, that would have been enough.
"Miracle at St. Anna" was never on my list of books to read, but a friend of mine had come for a visit and while she was here, she had finished this novel and decided to leave it for me (I'm not one to turn down a free book). In the end, I'm glad that I had a chance to read this because "Miracle at St. Anna" portrays an unfamiliar side of WWII. The story follows a group of four buffalo soldiers who find themselves stranded in an Italian village - personally, I know very little of the Italian point of view during WWII, as well as that of African-American soldiers.
What I found interesting were the diverse dynamics and relationships throughout the book - buffalo soldiers/Italians, buffalo soldiers/white soldiers, Train/Angelo, the interaction within the group of the four African-American soldiers... the list goes on. In addition, I felt that the character development was excellent. Each of the four soldiers had such contrasting personalities, and I thought McBride did an excellent job of depicting this (and also with the other notable characters).
The storyline itself was quite interesting, as the paths of the buffalo soldiers, Italian villagers and partisans all converged. Without blatantly going into an all-out blitz concerning the massacre at St. Anna, McBride did just enough to show the reader its horrors. I'm not sure whether or not the "present day" subplot of Hector Negron (which appears at the beginning and end of the novel) is really necessary. I understand that it ties everything together (and to my knowledge, it is what much of the movie is based on), however, the meat of the novel lies within the time during WWII, and to me, that would have been enough.
May 22, 2009
Ok, maybe I'm too jaded, but I was really thrown by the whole "magical Negro" theme in this book. (I mean, there's also a "magical Italian boy" theme. . .but still). I think McBride is half African American, but does that really complicate things? I'm not sure. In any case, linguistically speaking, I hated how the translated Italian did not have the syntax or flow of real Italian. That might sound nitpickily pretentious, but I love how in Julia Alvarez, even when her characters are written as speaking English (but they're really speaking Spanish), the words flow like Spanish words, almost like a direct translation. Or in Excellent Cadavers, same thing with the Italian. McBride's English translations are chunky and inaccurate, clearly Germanic in origin. That threw off my reading. It doesn't appear that he speaks any Italian, which is fine, but he could have at least had a speaker look at his passages.
That being said, while the narrative isn't half bad, the ending is really troublesome and vague.
That being said, while the narrative isn't half bad, the ending is really troublesome and vague.
February 7, 2017
The Buffalo soldiers separated from their fellow American soldiers, held the church At St Anna , along with a local sick boy , they were surrounded by the Germans.
It was an unspeakable tragedy. Only one Buffalo soldier made back to the states.
It was an unspeakable tragedy. Only one Buffalo soldier made back to the states.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : Miracle at St. Anna - Nevisande : James McBride - ISBN : 1573229717 - ISBN13 : 9781573229715 - Dar 336 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2001
February 20, 2022
Fully admitting I'm probably a bit biased because I love James McBride and I only have like...three more books to read (The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul and Song Yet Sung) to have read all of him. Reading The Good Lord Bird was such a singular reading experience--such a smart, funny, gem of a book that only comes around for me once in a while. I actually laughed out loud reading it, which for me is saying a lot. Also love Five-Carat Soul and Deacon King Kong. His writing has this perfect balance of being literary, emotional, educational, witty, and engaging. All the things! Anyways, you get it. I love him.
All that said, this clearly shows signs of being a debut novel and is not quite as strong to me as his other books.
It veered a little bit into the schmaltzy or cheesy every once in a while, and I was like, "No, no, we're doing so well, take it down a notch!" And then he would but then a certain turn of phrase or something would make it's way back there eventually. For example, I didn't really like this obsession with the boy being a miracle. Just a boy in a war-torn country needing help stands powerfully on it's own without turning him into some overblown metaphor. We can draw our own conclusions. Also the "witch" of the village and the parts about not knowing where the rabbits and electricity came from didn't work for me either. Sometimes the tone changed a lot from cynical and very focused on battles, racism, and the military aspects, then suddenly back would feel like this melodramatic WWII story.But it was infrequent enough it didn't ruin the story.
I liked plot point of
Still.
I loved the focus on the Buffalo Soldiers. WWII novels are a dime a dozen and many seem to have the same tropes/focus. I also haven't read that many WWII novels set in Italy (I'm sure there's more out there, I just haven't read them) and learning more about the partisans/Mussolini/how it affected their country was fascinating. He put in just the right amount of Italian history without it being too much.
The Buffalo Soldiers faced so much racism and still fought and died for the US. The inner and outer conflict of how they dealt with this is so interesting, and he showed that each of them reacted to it differently.
I also liked the blending of the novel. It wasn't totally flawless---as I said it got right on the border of too cheesy at times, and parts of the plot didn't totally work out right. But overall he was able to pack in action, reflection, relationships, and so many different themes. At times the book felt almost like a thriller but then other times it slowed down and got introspective and even cynical in the moment. I think changing pace like that is hard to pull off (and maybe he didn't 100%) but that's what it probably felt like to be in the war. Lots of fast-paced terrifying moments, but then slow moments where the action is paused. Then you don't know what to do, what decisions to make, how long you're going to be sitting around in a random Italian village, or if it's all worth it. It was interesting.
I started the movie and it had some decent moments so far but overall is TERRIBLY cheesy and feels really dated and just....off. Even with a few bigger names, the acting seemed really overdone and the music is very overbearing, which ratchets up the schmaltz. Surprising because it's only from 2008. I'm debating if I even want to finish it today, so I wouldn't recommend it.
All that said, this clearly shows signs of being a debut novel and is not quite as strong to me as his other books.
It veered a little bit into the schmaltzy or cheesy every once in a while, and I was like, "No, no, we're doing so well, take it down a notch!" And then he would but then a certain turn of phrase or something would make it's way back there eventually. For example, I didn't really like this obsession with the boy being a miracle. Just a boy in a war-torn country needing help stands powerfully on it's own without turning him into some overblown metaphor. We can draw our own conclusions. Also the "witch" of the village and the parts about not knowing where the rabbits and electricity came from didn't work for me either. Sometimes the tone changed a lot from cynical and very focused on battles, racism, and the military aspects, then suddenly back would feel like this melodramatic WWII story.But it was infrequent enough it didn't ruin the story.
I liked plot point of
Still.
I loved the focus on the Buffalo Soldiers. WWII novels are a dime a dozen and many seem to have the same tropes/focus. I also haven't read that many WWII novels set in Italy (I'm sure there's more out there, I just haven't read them) and learning more about the partisans/Mussolini/how it affected their country was fascinating. He put in just the right amount of Italian history without it being too much.
The Buffalo Soldiers faced so much racism and still fought and died for the US. The inner and outer conflict of how they dealt with this is so interesting, and he showed that each of them reacted to it differently.
I also liked the blending of the novel. It wasn't totally flawless---as I said it got right on the border of too cheesy at times, and parts of the plot didn't totally work out right. But overall he was able to pack in action, reflection, relationships, and so many different themes. At times the book felt almost like a thriller but then other times it slowed down and got introspective and even cynical in the moment. I think changing pace like that is hard to pull off (and maybe he didn't 100%) but that's what it probably felt like to be in the war. Lots of fast-paced terrifying moments, but then slow moments where the action is paused. Then you don't know what to do, what decisions to make, how long you're going to be sitting around in a random Italian village, or if it's all worth it. It was interesting.
I started the movie and it had some decent moments so far but overall is TERRIBLY cheesy and feels really dated and just....off. Even with a few bigger names, the acting seemed really overdone and the music is very overbearing, which ratchets up the schmaltz. Surprising because it's only from 2008. I'm debating if I even want to finish it today, so I wouldn't recommend it.
September 12, 2025
At the risk of sounding petulant, I was supposed to love this book. Here are some of my reasons: This book chronicles the Buffalo soldiers of the 92nd division in Tuscany during World War II; I have spent a large part of my life in Tuscany, being half-Tuscan, and am proudly descended from a partisan. I love history. The beginning of this book reminded me of one of my favorite books, The Things They Carried as well as the fantastic movie Glory. It is the third book by James McBride I’ve read, and I gave the other two five stars.
Two things I loved about his other two novels, characters and historical context, are just what I didn’t like about this book. I’ll start with the latter. McBride incorporates bits of Italian history throughout the book, and normally I would love that. But he made a lot of it up! The story behind the commission, creation, and destruction of the Primavera statue, for example, is entirely made up. The statue is real, but he makes up details in the story about how it came to be, right down to the name and nationality of the sculptor. I don’t understand the point of rewriting straightforward rote information. It felt disrespectful. The fact that there are so many who will take this book at its word is kind of sad. And why shouldn’t they? The history McBride makes up isn’t especially fanciful; in fact what makes it all the more maddening is that he probably could have just chronicled the actual historical events as they’d actually happened and have had just as interesting a story.
So we move to the characters. McBride has written absolutely wonderful characters. The characters in Miracle at St. Anna, on the other hand, felt more like caricatures, bordering on stereotypes and tropes. It felt gimmicky. All in all, this book read like an earlier book of McBride’s than what I was used to, abc that’s just what it is. It felt very young, like a simmering of potential. Lucky for readers, that potential has blossomed into at least two wonderful novels.
Two things I loved about his other two novels, characters and historical context, are just what I didn’t like about this book. I’ll start with the latter. McBride incorporates bits of Italian history throughout the book, and normally I would love that. But he made a lot of it up! The story behind the commission, creation, and destruction of the Primavera statue, for example, is entirely made up. The statue is real, but he makes up details in the story about how it came to be, right down to the name and nationality of the sculptor. I don’t understand the point of rewriting straightforward rote information. It felt disrespectful. The fact that there are so many who will take this book at its word is kind of sad. And why shouldn’t they? The history McBride makes up isn’t especially fanciful; in fact what makes it all the more maddening is that he probably could have just chronicled the actual historical events as they’d actually happened and have had just as interesting a story.
So we move to the characters. McBride has written absolutely wonderful characters. The characters in Miracle at St. Anna, on the other hand, felt more like caricatures, bordering on stereotypes and tropes. It felt gimmicky. All in all, this book read like an earlier book of McBride’s than what I was used to, abc that’s just what it is. It felt very young, like a simmering of potential. Lucky for readers, that potential has blossomed into at least two wonderful novels.
July 24, 2022
Second go reading this for my book club.
I hardily recommend any book by James McBride.
McBride is one of my favorite authors; I personally peg him as an author who writes spiritual-minded not Christian genre books.
You can read the summery anywhere.
The major themes of this work include miracles in a fallen unjust world and the transforming power of love. McBride was inspired to write this, his first novel, based on listening to his uncle’s stories as a little boy, sitting under the table with his sister eavesdropping on the adults when they got to drinking and talking, forgetting little ears were around {who else remembers doing this a hundred years ago when we were children?}. He spoke about serving in World War II, in Italy under the famous Buffalo brigade. His recollection of the horrific injustice of black men “allowed to serve” in pre-civil rights America, and the staggering contrast of how the Italian people treated people of color.
Suffering unites people, no doubt about it.
One the best lines from Miracle at Saint Anna is from a character named Lt. Stamps is this:
“The Italians were grateful, too. They loved the (black) soldiers back…they treated them like humans, better than the Americans did. The Italians were like the colored, Stamps thought bitterly, they know what it’s like to be on the outside looking in…Sometimes Stamps felt his conscience was going to snap in two. He was constantly caught between showing his good face to the enlisted men and slugging through the bullshit that came from above him. The irony was Stamps loved the Army. The Army had brought him to Italy, and he felt freer in Italy than he ever felt in his life…They (The Italians) didn’t seem to care whether Stamps was colored or not. They gave the colored man something he could neither buy or earn in America: respect”.
This passage sums up accurately not just the black experience in the 20th century but the universal need of humanity: our conscience seeking for justice and wanting to be loved and respected by our fellow man.
I always read the acknowledgements at the end of novels, it’s how I know about the story of Mc Bride listening to his uncle as a kid, and the last line Mc Bride writes is “…God’s love is the greatest miracle of all”.
Nice closer Jimmy.
I hardily recommend any book by James McBride.
McBride is one of my favorite authors; I personally peg him as an author who writes spiritual-minded not Christian genre books.
You can read the summery anywhere.
The major themes of this work include miracles in a fallen unjust world and the transforming power of love. McBride was inspired to write this, his first novel, based on listening to his uncle’s stories as a little boy, sitting under the table with his sister eavesdropping on the adults when they got to drinking and talking, forgetting little ears were around {who else remembers doing this a hundred years ago when we were children?}. He spoke about serving in World War II, in Italy under the famous Buffalo brigade. His recollection of the horrific injustice of black men “allowed to serve” in pre-civil rights America, and the staggering contrast of how the Italian people treated people of color.
Suffering unites people, no doubt about it.
One the best lines from Miracle at Saint Anna is from a character named Lt. Stamps is this:
“The Italians were grateful, too. They loved the (black) soldiers back…they treated them like humans, better than the Americans did. The Italians were like the colored, Stamps thought bitterly, they know what it’s like to be on the outside looking in…Sometimes Stamps felt his conscience was going to snap in two. He was constantly caught between showing his good face to the enlisted men and slugging through the bullshit that came from above him. The irony was Stamps loved the Army. The Army had brought him to Italy, and he felt freer in Italy than he ever felt in his life…They (The Italians) didn’t seem to care whether Stamps was colored or not. They gave the colored man something he could neither buy or earn in America: respect”.
This passage sums up accurately not just the black experience in the 20th century but the universal need of humanity: our conscience seeking for justice and wanting to be loved and respected by our fellow man.
I always read the acknowledgements at the end of novels, it’s how I know about the story of Mc Bride listening to his uncle as a kid, and the last line Mc Bride writes is “…God’s love is the greatest miracle of all”.
Nice closer Jimmy.
August 25, 2024
Actually 3.5 rounded up. I grabbed this book from my library because I wanted to read something from this author before I 'tackled' his newer 'Deacon King Kong' story. Slow and somewhat 'ponderous' in the beginning, the story describes the true life event of the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre in Italy during WWII. The main characters are part of the famed Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Division as well as characters from the surrounding villages of the massacre. The battle after the massacre was named "The Little Battle of the Bulge" and consisted of a Christmas Day attack on the Serchio Valley that decimated several small Tuscan towns. Whew!! Lots of history that you will be interested in after you read the story.
A group of black American 'Buffalo' soldiers rescuing the lone survivor (a little boy named Angelo) after the massacre; unaware of the event that sent the little boy to the the small group of 'angels'.
Train, Stamps, Bishop and Hector (the lone Puerto Rican in the group of American black men) save the boy from the Germans and run back into the Tuscan hills to hide. What ensue's is the story of the Buffalo Soldiers and their treatment during WWII from white commanders; their discovery of how Italians came to love some of these men; and the bravery of these men trying to save the Italian townspeople. Of course, there is a spy in the midst of the Italian partisans and it it this man who stars in the book's bloody beginning and end. In between, there are multiple descriptions of fights and bravery from the Italian people as well as the soldiers. And the miracle??? Well, you can decide what that is....it could be multiple things. The slow beginning and middle does have a 'galloping' end and that is the part I loved.
I discovered there was a 2008 Spike Lee movie of the event. Perhaps I will get a chance to view it but I will certainly grab his newer book, 'Deacon King Kong'. Lots of history that I was unaware of .... sometimes relevant history becomes hidden in the larger picture.
A group of black American 'Buffalo' soldiers rescuing the lone survivor (a little boy named Angelo) after the massacre; unaware of the event that sent the little boy to the the small group of 'angels'.
Train, Stamps, Bishop and Hector (the lone Puerto Rican in the group of American black men) save the boy from the Germans and run back into the Tuscan hills to hide. What ensue's is the story of the Buffalo Soldiers and their treatment during WWII from white commanders; their discovery of how Italians came to love some of these men; and the bravery of these men trying to save the Italian townspeople. Of course, there is a spy in the midst of the Italian partisans and it it this man who stars in the book's bloody beginning and end. In between, there are multiple descriptions of fights and bravery from the Italian people as well as the soldiers. And the miracle??? Well, you can decide what that is....it could be multiple things. The slow beginning and middle does have a 'galloping' end and that is the part I loved.
I discovered there was a 2008 Spike Lee movie of the event. Perhaps I will get a chance to view it but I will certainly grab his newer book, 'Deacon King Kong'. Lots of history that I was unaware of .... sometimes relevant history becomes hidden in the larger picture.
January 17, 2016
This is the story of a small group of soldiers from an all-black division fighting in Tuscany during WWII. When one of the men attempts to escape an enemy onslaught, having been denied assistance from ground command he becomes lost in the mountains. Four others pursue him but become surrounded by the enemy. Train (who has other names signifying his behavior, physical appearance, or status) refuses to abandon a small boy who was the sole survivor of an atrocity at St. Anna. The story is difficult in the way one might expect a story about war to be difficult, but as the title suggests humans in horrid situations can achieve something exceptional.
October 20, 2016
This is a story of courage and redemption thru the eyes of four Buffalo Soldiers. Well written and interesting story. A good book to read of little-known world war black soldiers and how they fought in WW11.
June 24, 2025
Wonderful storytelling - these characters were complex and, good or bad, were completely endeared to me throughout my read. I would recommend this to anyone who believes in love (and miracles)
November 25, 2020
It took me a while to get into this book which was published in 2003 and received rave reviews. It tells the story of four black American soldiers caught behind enemy lines in Italy during the closing years of World War II and what happened in the days that followed. My main problem was trying to understand and follow the geography as these men, part of a segregated unit known as the Buffalo Soldiers, become separated from their division on the battlefield. As they try to escape, they fall into the path of German soldiers gathering in the Alps for the 1944 Christmas Day attack on the Serchio Valley. I desperately wanted to see a map so I could understand their physical position, however as the geography became less important to the story of the soldiers, I stopped fretting about the landscape and soon came to realize what an excellent novel this was, a story of fiction but based on real life events.
Many writers have described the great divide between black and white Americans but few have dived deeper into the divisions that exists in the black community itself. Like most groups, it is populated with people from various backgrounds with different beliefs and varying sensibilities. That is the gift of this novel, one that shows how in the chaos of war, against a common enemy and in a foreign country, four black men reveal their differences, think about their pasts, their futures and their feelings about being trapped in what they believe is a white man’s war.
Private Sam Train or “Diesel” as he is known to the others, is a huge, slow witted, illiterate man with a gentle, subservient and child-like nature. During clashes with the enemy, Train grabbed the head of a marble statute from the Santa Trinita bridge in Florence which had been destroyed. He carried the head in a sack on his belt, keeping it with him, believing it had magical powers that made him invisible to the enemy. Following orders, he also rescued a dazed and injured six year old boy found hiding in a barn, but after grabbing the child, he ran blindly in the wrong direction, dodging gunfire and heading for the hills. The boy was mute and clearly needed medical help. Train wanted to make sure this poor, innocent and badly wounded child got the help he needed, despite the protest of his combat mates who demanded he leave the child behind. Secretly he thought about taking the boy home with him to North Carolina and treating him like a son.
Trapped with Diesel are three other men. Lieutenant Aubrey Stamps, university trained and struggling to understand his own black heritage; Bishop Cummings, a sly, swindling, cynical, self-styled pastor who loves women, likes to play cards and gamble and has no use for the bible except for the opportunity it gives him to enjoy the lifestyle he craves and Corporal Hector Negron, a dark skinned man born in Puerto Rico but from the Bronx who speaks English, Spanish and Italian. Hector’s facility with languages helps him act as an interpreter for the group.
As Train and his three comrades become separated from their unit, they are trapped behind enemy lines without a radio and no way to get help. They try to figure out what to do next, knowing they are in a dangerous situation and not sure they will be rescued by their white commanding officers. Scared and uncertain, they decide to hold up and await rescue in the small Tuscan village of Bornacchi as the cold weather approaches with its freezing winter rain.
These characters are superbly drawn, revealing their innermost thoughts and broken dreams and showing by their actions how they fit into the multifaceted black world they lived in back in America. McBride places them in this white dominated army, ruled by protocols, procedure and politics and reveals how the army is just a smaller world that replicates the reality these men face back home. Black lieutenants are not able to advance because of the unwritten rule that no white man should take orders from a black man, leading to several incompetent white soldiers taking on commanding positions. White generals who believe qualified black men merit promotion, argue with others who want to keep the black men in check, because just the thought of armed black men scares them. They see black men being treated in this war as if they were white and believe once they war is over and they return to America, these black men will need to be re-educated and put back in their place.
The great division created by the North/South split among blacks is revealed as Stamps and Bishop argue. Stamps sees Bishop as the type of shiftless, shuffling, negro preacher who has held black people back for hundreds of years while Bishop despises Stamps as a high-bred, Washington educated nigger who thinks he knows it all. Stamps believes the war will serve to advance black men who are showing they can fight alongside white men as equals and get the job done. Bishop has an entirely different view, believing they are fighting a white man’s war that has nothing to do with them. He believes they are there because the army was running out of white boys to die, so they called on the black men to help them. And when the war is over and they return to America, they will be labeled and treated the way they have always been. If they look at a white woman sideways, they could find themselves hung from the nearest tree. Stamps thinks the man has a point. After this mess is over, a German could come to America, live well and start a business, while he would still be just a black man.
The story shows the attitudes of white commanders towards their black soldiers, the soldier’s attitudes toward their commanders and the varied attitudes of the soldiers towards each other.
Although these black soldiers are within a short distance of their enemy, they find a sense of liberation in Italy. Here the Italian peasants treat them with respect. They also have divisions within their group, dividing themselves as partisans, Fascists, spies, and mercenaries. They, like the black men, have had different life experiences and different beliefs which determined their behavior. But they are also pragmatic, realistic about their situation and like the soldiers facing potential death as thousands of Germans amass their forces around them, they do what they can to survive.
In the past, someone betrayed these villagers to the Germans and an unspeakable atrocity resulted. Tension still hangs in the air, especially when a band of local partisans arrives with their leader Peppi, known as the Black Butterfly. Things get complicated as Peppi and his small group have a German deserter as a prisoner and Peppi decides to involve the Americans in a ruthless plan to unmask the traitor. Unknown to anyone, the boy Train rescued knows about the atrocity and the identity of the traitor but stays silent, clinging to Train for comfort and protection.
The novel has a compelling and tension filled plot as the Germans advance and the question of rescue becomes slim. Meanwhile both the soldiers and the peasants are starving and trying to cope with the life and death situation they face.
The novel works for meaning, pushing the mute young boy who has been rescued as a symbol of hope, love, faith and trust in the midst of chaos. At times it threatens to overcome the narrative which is saved by the poignant voices of the soldiers facing a questionable future.
This is a very good read about racism, courage and forgiveness, played out against the moral landscape of war. The conclusion is not realistic or believable but the excellent writing at the core of the novel which reveals the fears, hopes and dreams of the black soldiers, makes up for it in many ways.
Many writers have described the great divide between black and white Americans but few have dived deeper into the divisions that exists in the black community itself. Like most groups, it is populated with people from various backgrounds with different beliefs and varying sensibilities. That is the gift of this novel, one that shows how in the chaos of war, against a common enemy and in a foreign country, four black men reveal their differences, think about their pasts, their futures and their feelings about being trapped in what they believe is a white man’s war.
Private Sam Train or “Diesel” as he is known to the others, is a huge, slow witted, illiterate man with a gentle, subservient and child-like nature. During clashes with the enemy, Train grabbed the head of a marble statute from the Santa Trinita bridge in Florence which had been destroyed. He carried the head in a sack on his belt, keeping it with him, believing it had magical powers that made him invisible to the enemy. Following orders, he also rescued a dazed and injured six year old boy found hiding in a barn, but after grabbing the child, he ran blindly in the wrong direction, dodging gunfire and heading for the hills. The boy was mute and clearly needed medical help. Train wanted to make sure this poor, innocent and badly wounded child got the help he needed, despite the protest of his combat mates who demanded he leave the child behind. Secretly he thought about taking the boy home with him to North Carolina and treating him like a son.
Trapped with Diesel are three other men. Lieutenant Aubrey Stamps, university trained and struggling to understand his own black heritage; Bishop Cummings, a sly, swindling, cynical, self-styled pastor who loves women, likes to play cards and gamble and has no use for the bible except for the opportunity it gives him to enjoy the lifestyle he craves and Corporal Hector Negron, a dark skinned man born in Puerto Rico but from the Bronx who speaks English, Spanish and Italian. Hector’s facility with languages helps him act as an interpreter for the group.
As Train and his three comrades become separated from their unit, they are trapped behind enemy lines without a radio and no way to get help. They try to figure out what to do next, knowing they are in a dangerous situation and not sure they will be rescued by their white commanding officers. Scared and uncertain, they decide to hold up and await rescue in the small Tuscan village of Bornacchi as the cold weather approaches with its freezing winter rain.
These characters are superbly drawn, revealing their innermost thoughts and broken dreams and showing by their actions how they fit into the multifaceted black world they lived in back in America. McBride places them in this white dominated army, ruled by protocols, procedure and politics and reveals how the army is just a smaller world that replicates the reality these men face back home. Black lieutenants are not able to advance because of the unwritten rule that no white man should take orders from a black man, leading to several incompetent white soldiers taking on commanding positions. White generals who believe qualified black men merit promotion, argue with others who want to keep the black men in check, because just the thought of armed black men scares them. They see black men being treated in this war as if they were white and believe once they war is over and they return to America, these black men will need to be re-educated and put back in their place.
The great division created by the North/South split among blacks is revealed as Stamps and Bishop argue. Stamps sees Bishop as the type of shiftless, shuffling, negro preacher who has held black people back for hundreds of years while Bishop despises Stamps as a high-bred, Washington educated nigger who thinks he knows it all. Stamps believes the war will serve to advance black men who are showing they can fight alongside white men as equals and get the job done. Bishop has an entirely different view, believing they are fighting a white man’s war that has nothing to do with them. He believes they are there because the army was running out of white boys to die, so they called on the black men to help them. And when the war is over and they return to America, they will be labeled and treated the way they have always been. If they look at a white woman sideways, they could find themselves hung from the nearest tree. Stamps thinks the man has a point. After this mess is over, a German could come to America, live well and start a business, while he would still be just a black man.
The story shows the attitudes of white commanders towards their black soldiers, the soldier’s attitudes toward their commanders and the varied attitudes of the soldiers towards each other.
Although these black soldiers are within a short distance of their enemy, they find a sense of liberation in Italy. Here the Italian peasants treat them with respect. They also have divisions within their group, dividing themselves as partisans, Fascists, spies, and mercenaries. They, like the black men, have had different life experiences and different beliefs which determined their behavior. But they are also pragmatic, realistic about their situation and like the soldiers facing potential death as thousands of Germans amass their forces around them, they do what they can to survive.
In the past, someone betrayed these villagers to the Germans and an unspeakable atrocity resulted. Tension still hangs in the air, especially when a band of local partisans arrives with their leader Peppi, known as the Black Butterfly. Things get complicated as Peppi and his small group have a German deserter as a prisoner and Peppi decides to involve the Americans in a ruthless plan to unmask the traitor. Unknown to anyone, the boy Train rescued knows about the atrocity and the identity of the traitor but stays silent, clinging to Train for comfort and protection.
The novel has a compelling and tension filled plot as the Germans advance and the question of rescue becomes slim. Meanwhile both the soldiers and the peasants are starving and trying to cope with the life and death situation they face.
The novel works for meaning, pushing the mute young boy who has been rescued as a symbol of hope, love, faith and trust in the midst of chaos. At times it threatens to overcome the narrative which is saved by the poignant voices of the soldiers facing a questionable future.
This is a very good read about racism, courage and forgiveness, played out against the moral landscape of war. The conclusion is not realistic or believable but the excellent writing at the core of the novel which reveals the fears, hopes and dreams of the black soldiers, makes up for it in many ways.
March 9, 2025
Having read and loved The Good Lord Bird and Deacon King Kong, I wanted to read this amazing author’s previous books. This debut novel is riveting. His gift for bringing characters to life is what I most appreciate and enjoy about his work. Highly recommend this one.
May 31, 2012
Reviews of this book were so wildly contradictory - and the movie reviews were similarly so - that I didn't know if this was worth the read. For me in the end, it was. It was honest in its portrayal of just how brutal war can be, not only to soldiers but to hundreds of innocent civilians. It was also honest in its portrayal of the second class citizenship held by African American soldiers even while fighting for their country in WWII. Was it uplifting? At times, yes. Was it sad? Yes. But all in all, beautifully written.
August 16, 2019
I had a difficult time keeping the characters and actions straight, plus I found it a little long and boring in places. However, the best parts happen every time the young Italian boy, Angelo, interacts with Sam Train, who is childlike and an illiterate black soldier, and who becomes a "father" to the young lad.
April 8, 2020
Incredibly moving
I loved the colloquial storytelling, the juxtaposition of beauty and horror. This is a story that’s going to stay with me, even more so than his National Book Award winner, The Good Lord Bird.
I loved the colloquial storytelling, the juxtaposition of beauty and horror. This is a story that’s going to stay with me, even more so than his National Book Award winner, The Good Lord Bird.
January 23, 2022
I am officially a member now of the James McBride fan club. I loved this book.
February 17, 2024
Beautiful writing, descriptive scenes, and memorable characters, but the story itself is a bit disjointed and less engaging than some of McBride's other works.
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