Title: Akin
Author: Emma Donoghue
Published: September 24th 2019
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 352
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3.5 stars
RRP: $29.99
Rating: 3.5 stars
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 long-awaited first trip back to Nice, but he receives a call from social services: Noah is the closest available relative of his eleven-year-old great-nephew and he urgently needs someone to take him in.
Plagued by guilt and a feeling of duty to his dead sister, Noah agrees to foster the kid ‘just for couple of weeks’ and takes him along on his visit to Nice. This unlikely duo, both feeling adrift in their lives and suffering from culture shock, argue about everything from steak frites to Snapchat.
Noah is disappointed by how much Nice has changed since he left. When sharp-eyed Michael identifies the historic Hotel Excelsior in one of Noah’s photographs, they decide to check in – but once inside their luxury suite, Noah’s perception of his ancestral heritage starts to crack.
Shocking stories of the Nazi occupation surface: a hotel re-purposed for torture, a secret resistance movement, and Noah’s mysterious mother on the front lines of history. As dark truths about this famous tourist mecca come to light, Noah learns to appreciate Michael’s street-smart wit and ease with technology. He finally grasps the great risks people in all ages have taken for their kin.
Review:
‘Weren’t all of us bridges for each other, one way or another?’
I had to do a double take with this book, I was surprised to learn that Akin represents the twelfth published title by Emma Donoghue. Akin is an intriguing family mystery novel, a historical revelation and a bonding tale between an elderly man and his great nephew. I found my interest was directed towards the historical family puzzle element in Akin, rather than the present day happenings.
Akin unravels the life of a retired New York professor, who hopes that a trip to Nice will help him lay the ghosts of his mother’s involvement in a secret operation during World War II to rest. Just before Noah is due to depart to Nice he is approached by a social worker, who requests that Noah take on the care of his eleven year old nephew Michael, who has nowhere else to go. Noah agrees, but he takes Michael with him on his trip to France. When they arrive, this unlikely twosome bicker over anything and everything. Slowly but surely, these two begin to realise they can help one another. Together, they work to unlock the secrets of Noah’s complicated family history. This proves to be an uneasy task, but the resulting revelations prove to be life changing – an awakening of sorts for both parties. Akin is a story told with sentiment and passion, exposing the heartbreak of sacrifices made in times past.
Emma Donoghue is a skilled writer, with an impressive list of acclaimed novels to her name. Donoghue tends not to delve into the contemporary fiction field and Akin is just the second novel she has penned set in the present day. However, there are strong echoes to the past that often make Akin lean towards a historical fiction title. I enjoyed these aspects very much and although I realised the purpose of the present day narrative, I preferred the historical aspect over the contemporary thread.
Donoghue presents a number of interesting themes within her latest novel. From family connections, inter-generational relationships, loss, grief, travel, history, WWII and the resistance, Akin covers extensive ground. There is also an emphasis on the psychological, as Donoghue zones in on our reactions, responses, sense of morality and humanity within the context of the novel.
At the heart of Akin is the family mystery, which Noah is compelled to resolve for his own sense of closure. This aspect of the novel really worked for me. I appreciated how Donoghue managed to pluck out a fascinating segment from the WWII history books and combine it within her involving novel. I was amazed by this story of pure sacrifice and altruism. I knew nothing about the French resistance efforts in the Marcel Network. This initiative saw five hundred children saved from entering death camps by the brave efforts of those who ran an operation to hide them at various locations around Nice. The way this story was presented impressed me. The inspiration for Akin’s historical angle can be viewed in the informative Acknowledgements section at the close of the book.
Another aspect of Akin that worked for me were the Nice travel scenes. I was fortunate enough to spend a few days in Nice back in 2009 and although it was over a decade ago, Donoghue took me back to this stunning locale. Through Akin, I was able to be reunited with this beautiful part of France. I genuinely loved the scenery references, along with the tourist spots and cultural hubs mentioned within the novel.
There is a strong air of tension and misunderstanding that goes with our leads. There is also a clear generation divide and a lack of understanding on both sides. This plays out in the form of arguments and heated discussion, which can be frustrating to read at times but sometimes funny. I found that this aspect of the novel didn’t catch my full attention and I longed to return to some more detective work around Noah’s mother’s fascinating wartime past. However, despite my difficulties with this element of the novel, I feel Donoghue managed to capture the essence of her characters well.
At times painful, emotional, intense, enlightening and surprising, Akin is a novel of complicated family relationships, personal discoveries and restitution. Akin is a receptive novel, where the past and the present collide, with illuminating results.
Akin by Emma Donoghue was published on 24th September 2019 by Pan Macmillan. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of Akin, Emma Donoghue visit here.
*Thanks extended to Pan Macmillan for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
