"they were quite alone in the world except for their sister lucia."        
such children loose their childhood at an early age. explain.
(value based question)

Children who lose their homes and families at the hands of natural or man made disasters, mature very fast. Their childhood is lost and they grow up before time. Even the two brothers Nicola and Jacopo grew up in the face of all the difficulties that they faced in life. The house was destroyed, their father was killed and their only sister, Lucia was suffering from tuberculosis. The boys took care of their sister like grownups and worked hard to earn some money to pay the hospital bills. This shows their maturity which replaced their childhood.