The Apprentice of Florence

by Anne D. Kyle

Opening in 1453, this is the story of sixteen-year-old Neno, apprenticed to a silk merchant of Florence, who accompanies the merchant's son to Constantinople on business.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Italy, Juvenile

276 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1933

About the author

Born in 1896, Anne Dempster Kyle won a 1934 Newbery Honor for The Apprentice of Florence.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

1934 was a notable year for the Newbery awards. Eight Honor books were selected (the only other year with as many was 1931), including The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gág, The Winged Girl of Knossos by Erick Berry, and The Apprentice of Florence by Anne Dempster Kyle. 1450s Italy is the backdrop as our story opens with sixteen-year-old Agenore (Neno) di Giancavallo arriving in Florence. He's searching for his father, who left on a sea voyage years ago and never returned. Most assume he's dead, but Neno (pronounced "Nay-no") won't accept that until he sees incontrovertible evidence. He makes contact with Messer Bardo, a silk merchant he hopes can shed light on his father's disappearance. Alas, the kindly businessman knows little more than Neno, but he knew and respected the elder Giancavallo, and offers to take on his son as an apprentice. Neno has already made a few friends his age in the city—Vanni Lucchesi, for one, and siblings Clarice (Rice) and Everardo—but he can't bear to give up the dream of reuniting with his father. Someday he will resume the search...but not today.

A city of light, beauty, and passion, Florence begins feeling like home to Neno. A natural rivalry forms with Maso da Vicchio, an apprentice who isn't as conscientious as Neno, but it isn't too intense. Rice (pronounced "Ree-chay") worries that Messer Bardo, her uncle, will send her to live in a convent, but Everardo faces a more serious problem. Drunk one night after a community celebration, he lashes out with a weapon against a young man of significant social standing. Only his sister Rice and Neno witness the fatal exchange, but Everardo won't risk the crime being traced to him. He boards a ship headed for Byzantium, where an army of Christian soldiers defends the city against Turkish Muslim invaders. Joined by Neno and Rice on the voyage there, all three teens have suddenly experienced a dramatic change in life. Is there fulfillment to be found in military action?

"None are so easily persuaded as they who wish to be!"

—Neno, The Apprentice of Florence, P. 48

Neno has much further to go before his personal journey is finished. Defending Byzantium from conquest is stressful, and the Turks are rich in resources and determination. Sometimes it seems Everardo wants Neno to die in the war, which would halve the number of people who know he's guilty of an unsolved murder in Florence. Neno will fight as long as Byzantium stands, but his heart remains devoted to learning what happened to his father. Could he be alive? How would Neno find him on the massive continent of Europe? Not every boyish dream comes true, but Neno has cobbled together a family of his own these past few years, and they will be there to console him should the search for his father not end happily. The world is changing, funneling toward a modern age, and Neno wants to be part of it as long as he's alive. Painful as growing up is, it's easier when you have loved ones to travel the path beside you.

While apprenticing in the silk trade, Neno doesn't let his intellectual faculties grow dormant. He's excited to have access to Messer Bardo's personal library, and invests so much time reading that people call him Topolino, or "Little Mouse." What better nickname for a boy who is constantly "nibbling" at books? One could do worse than to be known as an avid student of philosophy, history, science, and other literary pursuits. Neno's friend Vanni has his own ambitions, as a talented artist. Nurturing his gift will take time, but Messer Ghiberti encourages him not to lose heart. "(Y)ou must have patience; that is the trouble with most young people nowadays, they don't have patience enough. They want to arrive at once. Myself, I would rather spend a lifetime on one piece of work and find it flawless than turn out a hundred that were 'good enough.'" Vanni has the potential to aim for perfection or proliferation; in time he must choose his course, but for now his options remain open, a winsome season in life when every avenue holds promise. Neno confronts severe personal and ethical conundrums in this book, scenarios that prevent him from acting in full self-confidence, but Don Ilario the priest offers comfort. "When you are as old as I, my son, you will understand how difficult it is for us to discern exactly between right and wrong. Too often the images are confused. But God knows and he will act accordingly. Be sure you can leave the judging of it to Him." Has Neno chosen rightly in life? Has he honored his father as well as Messer Bardo, who regards him like a son? The long and winding road is full of doubt, but Neno believes he has behaved toward friends, family, and rivals as nobly as he could. The legacy of his generation will trickle down to Florentines for centuries to come.

The Apprentice of Florence feels overlong, and Anne D. Kyle's writing has its idiosyncrasies, but the story's emotional core is solid. Neno's relationships to his best friend (Vanni) and the girl he may love (Rice) are the main portions of substance, along with his yearning to connect with his missing father. Can he ever feel complete without speaking to him one last time? Our emotional bond to Rice's dog, Lazarus, is also potent; if there's any heartrending scene in this book, it's one that takes place in Byzantium, and hinges on Lazarus's undying loyalty to Rice. An unrelated side note: besides being a Newbery Honor author in 1934 for The Winged Girl of Knossos, Erick Berry illustrated The Apprentice of Florence, an Honor book that same year. I guess she had her finger on the pulse of the Newbery committee. I might rate The Apprentice of Florence two and a half stars; it could be a much tighter, more evocative story, but I can't ignore the wisps of poignant emotion. I'm better for having read it.

[Thomas Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another old Newbery honor book which is hard to get through.

It's hard to say what this book is about. First I thought it was about a boy who left his hometown because his dad died and he tried to apprentice in Florence as a Silk Merchant to earn enough money to pay back his farm. Then I thought it was about intrigue and protecting his favorite family from others finding out about a murder. Then I thought it was about defending Byzantium/Constantinople from the invading Turks. Then I didn't know what to think anymore.

Altogether, this story had too much story as well as too much fluff. It seems to me that back then, what people considered good writing was often characterized by a lot of fluff. Also, it seems that the author was intending to hook the boy up with the girl Rice, but she just forgot to. Maybe there was supposed to be another chapter. No, she didn't leave us hanging. There's just a hole that was supposed to be filled but wasn't.

[Kirsten Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads gave me this as a "suggested" book, and it brought to mind that I had already written a review, during an interval when I wasn't really using this site. Here's my review written in 2020:

Review of "The Apprentice of Florence":
Set in Florence in the early 1450s, The Apprentice of Florence follows Agenore (nicknamed Neno) as he makes his way in the world. Neno's father has been missing for years and many presume him to be dead. Neno leaves his family farm to visit Florence and searches out a man his father worked for in the past. The silk merchant Bardo does not know where Neno's father has gone (the rumor is Neno's father may have been lost at sea), but offers Neno a place in his business as an apprentice. Eventually in the course of his employer's business Neno travels to Constantinople in the months leading up to fall of the city in 1453. Neno will eventually learn his father's fate, and decide on a course for his life after many adventures along the way.

There are many, many supporting characters in this book whose lives intertwine and influence the life of Neno. Notably, Clarice Di Deo, niece of his employer, becomes a friend and companion for much of the book. There are hints of potential for romance but the author doesn't take the story in that direction (something it seems i as a modern reader expected to her to do!). The lives of Neno and his friends also become intertwined with famous people of their day, from Cosimo De Medici to the artist Ghiberti to Ottoman Grand Vizier Khalil Pasha to even a young Christopher Columbus.

I really enjoyed this story for its level of detail about Florence and Constantinople, and the way the author weaves in the history of the time period. We studied the Italian Renaissance and the Fall of Constantinople in our homeschool this year (and I traveled to Florence myself about two years ago), and it was very satisfying reading a story that incorporates events we studied, and places i remember seeing in Florence!

On the other hand this story is very crowded with minor characters, some of whom I had a hard time keeping straight. The author has a habit of starting out various chapters by "setting a scene" and referring to "a young man" or some other vague descriptor, only to tell you several paragraphs later if she is talking about the main character Neno or someone else. That had me circling back to the beginning of the chapter a few times to make sure I caught what was going on. I feel like a really good modern editor would have tightened up this story significantly, maybe dropping a few minor characters and subplots to really give this story more zip and readability. Probably the editor in 1933 didn't feel that was necessary!

I would give this 4 out of 5 stars. I still definitely recommend it as a great historical fiction choice to pair with a study of this time period. (Read the Landmark "The Fall of Constantinople" first for excellent background material!) It feels like it could almost have been a five star book for me, but it just wasn't quite there.

Age range - Tough call on this book. I'm going to say 12+ as a read-alone or 10+ as a read aloud. There's nothing in here I wouldn't read to my youngest (age eight) currently given the other books we've read, but I am pretty sure if he were listening to it with my older boys there would be a ton of interruptions as he wants me to explain who's who and what's going on. So the age range is more about ability to keep in mind many characters and the somewhat complex story threads woven through the book.

Content Considerations - Fighting (a murder and street brawls in Florence, war/violence in the siege and battle for Constantinople including descriptions of deaths in battle), Language (challenging - many Italian/Latin words and names sprinkled throughout), Attitude (the main female character, Neno's friend Clarice, disobeys the wishes of her guardian multiple times, including sneaking off to Constantinople with Neno), Worldview (many Catholic religious practices in this book, as would be typical of the time and setting).

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3.0 stars. Set during the Renaissance, the story follows a young farmboy, Agenore, on his initial search for his father who had been an agent for a wealthy Florentian silk trader. The teenager, nicknamed Neno, (when unable to locate his father) is is taken on as an apprentice. The story is simply one of following him through his days, first in Florence, then later in Constantinople. That could be boring, but given what actually happens during this time period, notsomuch; there are the Medicis, the arts, foreign travel,plague, and the siege of Constantinople. But this is one of the Newberys that would never be published for children today. It would be deemed too complicated and additionally the author uses too many non-English words. I read this for my 2018 Reading Challenge and for my Newbery Challenge.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very wordy. And of course Columbus has to show up as a minor character. Very loose end neatly tied up in the end.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young boy leaves home to seeks news of his father in Florence, but ends up as an apprentice to a silk merchant instead, and travels with him to Constantinople.
Hm. This one seems a bit all over the place, and I'm not certain at all what it was really meant to be about, I'm afraid. Not one of my favorite Newbery Honor Books; it really hasn't aged well, I think.

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a slow-going struggle - I never really got into the story at all. I persevered simply to cross it off the Newbery list and it is with a heavy sigh of relief. I cannot really articulate what was missing from the story for me - there was action, history and a variety of characters, just not the necessary elements that make a story captivating.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had some interesting sections; it picked up quite a bit when Neno was in Constantinople. But there were many boring stretches, and slaves are only described as fat or lazy, casual anti-Semitic comments are made, and Neno's complete lack of sympathy for his mother, who is a woman in the 1400s in a terrible situation with zero help, is terrible.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the story...loved the dog c:

[Desiree']

1934 Newbery honor book

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another old Newbery book I couldn't put down! Neno goes to Florence to try to find out about the whereabouts of his father who left four years ago. I loved the characters like Gemma and Vanni and Rice and Messer Bardo. Good plot, too!

[Scott Williams]

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