The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson

The Roma people leave the city only a couple of weeks later, leaving the Calcets once again without a home. The Roma people invite the Calcets into their homes, providing food and shelter. Madame Calcet is disturbed by this as she is prejudiced against the Roma people, but she quickly learns that they are generous and caring. He hastily moves the children to a Roma camp where he’s been invited to spend the winter.

On the way, he learns that they’ve been discovered by two women who want to “help” by putting the children into a charity home. The next day, he convinces himself to check on the children with the excuse of berating them for their treatment of him.

She sends Armand away and he leaves, hurt and angry. Armand uses the money to buy the children and their dog street food treats later that night, Madame Calcet is angry and disgusted to learn that her children have been begging. The concert is popular, and many people put coins in Armand’s hat when he passes it around. Outside of the store, Armand encourages the children to put on a concert of Christmas songs. The children ask Father Christmas for a new home. The children and Armand visit the Louvre department store to see Father Christmas, who is played by a friend of Armand’s. He breaks his habits to bring the Calcet children on a walk through the city while their mother works. Madame Calcet could put the children into a charity home, but she wants to keep the family together.Īrmand is a proudly solitary man who pushes his belongings around in a baby buggy. This has driven them to live beneath the bridge as it is the only free housing in the city. The Calcets have recently lost the patriarch of the family and were evicted from their home when their mother could not afford to pay the rent on her own. Armand is vocally opposed to children, obligations, and responsibilities, but he is quickly charmed by the young Calcets and begins to care for them in his own way. The family consists of three children-Suzy, Paul, and Evelyne-and their mother, Madame Calcet. The Family Under the Bridge follows an unhoused man, Armand, as he reluctantly befriends a young family who he finds living in his usual spot beneath a bridge in Paris during the Christmas season. These terms are outdated and considered offensive, but they may appear in quoted material. The book also uses the terms “hobo” and “tramp” to refer to unhoused people. Armand transforms from a proud, solitary man without a home into a self-proclaimed grandfather and caregiver, just in time to find the Calcet children the home they long for.Ĭontent Warning: The book that informs this guide uses the term “gypsy” to refer to people of Roma heritage. The Family Under the Bridge covers themes of discrimination, family, and change as a catalyst for growth as Armand and the young family-the Calcets-grow closer together.

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson