Miracle at St. Anna

The narrative tracks the statue head’s history beginning in 1590, when the marble that would become the statue is carved from a cliff wall, during which the marble worker who had initially carved away the slab, Filippo, loses an arm. The marble is transported from Florence to France, where it is carved into a statue representing spring. Tranqueville, the sculptor, works on the statue for four years, despite his conviction that it brings bad luck. When he is not paid swiftly, he descends into a rage, commits violence against several members of his family, and dies by suicide. The statue, the Primavera, becomes the toast of Florence, leading the duchess who commissioned it to delay deciding how to reward the talented sculptor; the payment and further generous commission arrives nine days after Tranqueville’s death. The duchess is distraught to hear of the death of her “one great artistic discovery” (64).

The sculptors of the other three seasonal statues, all Florentine, grow jealous of the French sculptor’s acclaim. Factions of Florentines became dedicated to defending their preferred statue. As the duchess ails, the French government attempts to buy the statue. The Florentine government objects, leading to offense and legal battles. In effort to prove the statue’s provenance as Italian, the Florentines summon Filippo, who confirms its origins. In the 20th century, debates renew regarding who is responsible for maintaining the statues, but this conflict ends when the Nazi invasion leads to the destruction of all seasonal statues except the Primavera, which loses an arm, prompting comparison to Filippo. The statue loses its head in 1944 when a German soldier, who has never before seen a Black person, shoots wildly at the advancing Black battalion of American soldiers. Train finds the head and carries it with him to the Mountain of the Sleeping Man, where he waits with the injured boy.

Stamps, Bishop, and Hector meet Train in an abandoned barn on the ridge. Hector, trained as a medic, recommends taking the boy to a hospital. Puerto Rican Hector is “stuck between colored and white in the division” (71); his cousin, also Puerto Rican but with lighter skin, was assigned to a white division. Stamps and Hector urge Train to leave; when Train nonsensically insists that he “don’t know nuthin’ about no kid” (72), Stamps and Hector blame Bishop for Train’s state of mind. Train claims he can now turn invisible and has the statue head, which he asserts will guarantee he can repay Bishop his debt. Train refuses to return to their squad, blaming this on the unconscious boy’s reluctance to move.

Stamps thinks of the difference, as he perceives it, between Black people from the North (like him) and those from the South, like Train. He finds Southern Black people to be too obsequious to white people and thinks of his lifelong resentment of being treated differently because of his race. He offers to arrange a position for Train to work away from the fighting, but Train refuses, saying that in the mountains “white folks got no say” (77), a thought that alarms him as it disrupts his sense of order. Train insists he will stay where he is until he decides what to do next.

Stamps permits them to rest until early the next morning, whereupon Train will accompany them back to camp or be arrested. Stamps blames Nokes’s failure to provide support for making Train “snap” and fantasizes about killing the white officer. From the canal below, the Germans play a loudspeaker that asks the Black soldiers to defect, citing American racist mistreatment.

The boy dreams of the Primavera as a live woman, waking to find the statue head. He refuses Train’s offer of food, feeling ill from his injuries. The boy talks about chocolate with Arturo; to Train’s eye, the boy talks to a piece of chocolate in animated Italian before eating it. At Arturo’s urging, the boy touches Train’s face, and Train is surprised to feel affection in the touch from a white child. He feels a kinship with the boy and claims the boy has “power” in his hands. The boy asks Arturo about his own identity, but Arturo doesn’t know.

When Stamps tells Train it’s time to return to camp, Train excitedly reports that the boy has “the power of God in his hands” (83). Stamps, furious, thinks Train insane. The boy sleeps in Train’s arms as Train follows Stamps.

The four soldiers descend the other side of the mountain after encountering a German patrol, and, in doing so, they nearly miss encountering allies who could have helped them. They march for hours in freezing rain. Stamps blames Bishop for the excursion; Bishop is annoyed at himself for following Stamps and Train into the mountains. His belief in magic or religion is feigned; he pretends to believe only for his own benefit. He thinks of how all his friends in the army have been killed.

The boy’s condition worsens, and, though Hector pities him, he thinks more of how the Italian children displaced by the war remind him of his own impoverished childhood in San Juan. Train urges Hector to do something, thinking the medicine Hector possesses is magic. Hector and Bishop are surprised by Train’s sudden interest in the boy, which Train derives from his belief that the child is an angel. Stamps leads the group to a church to camp for the night.

Bishop thinks of his plan to build a church in Kansas City, which was disrupted when he got drafted. He turned to preaching after a stint in prison, finding it an easier and less risky way to make money than cheating at cards. He mimicked the Biblical rhetoric of his abusive father, who was a deacon, and gathered a large (and lucrative) congregation. He attended the draft summons on the mistaken assumption that he would be made a chaplain.

The group stares at the church, worried that German soldiers may already be inside. They cautiously scout, Train feeling his invisibility, which he now considers to bring problems. He worries about how he will explain it to God if he lets the boy (whom he still thinks of as an angel) die. He realizes he is not yet invisible, which he sees as bringing other problems, as he can be shot.

As Train approaches the damaged church, she sees a carving of St. Anna. He looks between the carving and the statue noting that, though different, they are both beautiful and both make him feel suddenly happy. He considers this a sign and approaches the carving, incautious of potential enemy fire, while his companions yell for him to return. He gazes at St. Anna and his invisibility returns. He reaches to wipe a tear from St. Anna’s eye and finds himself touching Bishop’s face, instead. The two stand frozen for a moment before recoiling.

Hector spots a man who appears to be speaking with an unseen figure. When Hector approaches the man, a malnourished and ragged Italian, Hector sees he is speaking to nobody. Hector, though he speaks Italian, cannot understand the man’s nonsensical ramblings. The church bell suddenly begins to ring and the man screams. The soldiers flee.