Akin is a tender tale of love, loss and family, from Emma Donoghue,
the international bestselling author of Room. 'If Room forced home
truths on us, about parenthood, responsibility and love, Akin deals
with similar subject matter more subtly, but in the end just as
compellingly' - Guardian A retired New York professor's life is
thrown into chaos when he takes his great-nephew to the French
Riviera, in hopes of uncovering his own mother's wartime secrets.
Noah is only days away from his first trip back to Nice since he
was a child when a social worker calls looking for a temporary home
for Michael, his eleven-year-old great-nephew. Though he has never
met the boy, he gets talked into taking him along to France. This
odd couple, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, argue about
everything from steak hache to screen time, and the trip is looking
like a disaster. But as Michael's ease with tech and sharp eye help
Noah unearth troubling details about their family's past, both of
them come to grasp the risks that 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 a huge bestseller, Akin is a funny, heart-wrenching tale
of an old man and a boy who unpick their painful story and start to
write a new one together. 'Poignant and hopeful, the bestselling
novelist of Room has delivered another exquisite portrayal of an
adult and child making their way in the world' - Woman & Home
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Review This Product
My review
Wed, 8 Jan 2020 | Review
by: Breakaway R.
A heart-warming story about family ties and finding yourself through your past
79-year old retired professor Noah Selvaggio has been planning his first trip to Nice since he left France as a child, with the aim of uncovering the stories behind some mysterious photographs taken by his mother. Days before he is due to leave, he discovers that he is the only living relative of a great-nephew he has never met, who needs looking after. Out of obligation to his beloved deceased sister, Noah agrees to take 11-year old Michael with him on his travels. Whilst the two of them are worlds apart in personality and interests, over the course of their trip they discover the things they have in common and Michael eventually even begins to help his great-uncle look into his mother’s secretive past.
I must admit, I didn’t realise until I went to write this review that the author was the writer of Room, which is an excellent book. Whilst Akin is not quite at the same level in terms of story memorability or plot, it is similar in its warmth and its charming portrayal of youth and the differences between adults and children. I really enjoyed reading Noah and Michael’s relationship. A lot of authors struggle to write ‘real’ children, but Michael was snarky, rude and irritating in the way only eleven-year-old boys can be, and I loved him for it. Noah was also a great character, toeing the line between a caring parental figure and a cantankerous old man perfectly. The setting of Nice was extremely atmospheric and well written and felt seeped in history.
Unfortunately, the storyline wasn’t as exciting or as gripping as it could have been and at times it did feel a little slow-paced. I found Noah jumped to conclusions a lot about the things he found out about his mother, when the reality was pretty obviously different and seemed hinted at in the writing, meaning his surprise when things weren’t what they had seemed didn’t ring true.
Overall, whilst not as ground-breaking as the author’s most famous novel, Akin is a readable story about family bonds and also a witty observation on the generation gap. I really enjoy this author’s writing and will certainly lookout for more of her books in the future.
Daenerys
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.
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