Book Review: "Akin" by Emma Donoghue
Synopsis: Noah Selvaggio is a retired chemistry professor and widower living on the Upper West Side, but born in the South of France. He is days away from his first visit back to Nice since he was a child, bringing with him a handful of puzzling photos he’s discovered from his mother’s wartime years. But he receives a call from social services: Noah is the closest available relative of an eleven-year-old great-nephew he’s never met, who urgently needs someone to look after him. Out of a feeling of obligation, Noah agrees to take Michael along on his trip.
Much has changed in this famously charming seaside mecca, still haunted by memories of the Nazi occupation. The unlikely duo, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, bicker about everything from steak frites to screen time. But Noah gradually comes to appreciate the boy’s truculent wit, and Michael’s ease with tech and sharp eye help Noah unearth troubling details about their family’s past. Both come to grasp the risks people in all eras have run for their loved ones, and find they are more akin than they knew.
Written with all the tenderness and psychological intensity that made Room an international bestseller, Akin is a funny, heart-wrenching tale of an old man and a boy, born two generations apart, who unpick their painful story and start to write a new one together.—Little, Brown
Rating (out of 5): 4
Review: This find was a true library stumble-upon of the greatest kind. It’s rare to find a readable literary fiction book on a whim, and so this was a real blessing. I had loved Emma Donoghue’s “Room,” like everyone else, and liked “Frog Music” well enough that I’d continue to pick her books up, but I hadn’t previously anxiously awaited her new books. This will change that!
Intergenerational tales are tough, and I feel that Donoghue, an Irish woman, took on a challenge writing about two male New Yorkers of disparate age. While I’d stop short of considering this a total triumph, it was really an excellent and enjoyable read that I think will have broad appeal. It’s the rare book that I’d recommend to both my parents, my husband, and my friends—simply because their tastes are so different.
I loved slightly curmudgeonly Noah quite a bit—his genuine good nature but discomfort with children were understandable and even charming. His love for his ne’er-do-well late nephew was palpable, and the interjections from his long-dead wife into his subconscious were quite sweet. I feel Donoghue had more success with Noah. Michael is a tough character to nail, and some of his insights, even as a street-smart and generally intelligent young boy, seemed a bit advanced.
The most fascinating parts of the story are the two piecing together Noah’s mother’s actions during the second World War. Noah’s fear and doubts that she was a Nazi sympathizer are heartbreaking, and call into question his long-held feelings about his mother. The conclusion to this is a complicated, dark tale, and leaves us heartbroken for the unspoken traumas that so many of our relatives have held in.
The book is quite an easy read, and will drive you through to the end with its pacing—it reads almost like a psychological thriller. I truly recommend this as a heartwarming family story about forging connection in unlikely circumstances.
Tl;DR: A very solid family saga with an historical mystery thread throughout. Readable and compelling, this should be a quick read for most.
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