Based on Elsa Morante's bestselling novel that is one of the most iconic and critically acclaimed of the 20th century, published in two dozen languages. Ida Ramundo is the widowed mother of 15-year-old teenager Nino in Rome during WWII. She has a secret: Ida is of Jewish descent. But when she is assaulted by a German army soldier, things turn from bad to worse. In pain, dismay, and ashamed, Ida discovers she is pregnant, and, nine months later, secretly gives birth to another boy, who will be lovingly nicknamed Useppe. The family is further shaken by the events of the war: Nino decides to leave for the front to fight the Fascists, leaving his mother and little Useppe in an apartment in Rome's San Lorenzo neighborhood to cope with the Nazi occupation and roundups. In the July 1943 bombing, Ida loses everything and is forced to leave. But the moments of deep humanity Ida will experience along the way serve as a guiding light through the struggle for her own survival and that of her child.
