Paperback. Pub Date: Jun Pages: 320 in Publisher: Harper Perennial In Chicago in the summer of 1957 of Italian immigrants Angela Rosa and Agostino Peccatori is are caught between worlds as they cling to old-country ways in an era of upending change. Angela Rosa must cope with the building tension-exacerbated by Agostino's wandering eye-of raising five US-born children who are struggling to define themselves within a family rooted in old-world tradition. But the events of a single tragic evening are about to ing all of their lives to a sudden. irreversible standstill-as a once resilient family begins to unravel under a crushing burden of guilt. A poignant testament to the power of sacrifice. loyalty. and unconditional love. When the World Was Young is a stunning tale of one family's will to survive.