Akin – Emma Donoghue (2019)

Akin by Emma Donoghue, published in 2019, is a moving and contemplative novel that centers on the unlikely bond between an elderly man and a displaced child. Set against the rich cultural backdrop of Nice, France, the novel explores questions of identity, memory, and intergenerational connection. Known for her storytelling prowess in books like Room and The Wonder, Donoghue once again blends historical depth with emotionally grounded realism.

Plot Summary

On the cusp of his eightieth birthday, Noah Selvaggio prepares for a solitary trip to Nice, the city of his birth. A retired chemistry professor, newly untethered by retirement and haunted by the loss of his wife Joan and sister Fernande, Noah seeks not adventure but resolution – an exploration of the past through a handful of mysterious black-and-white photographs left behind by his late mother, Margot. Her wartime silence and enigmatic snapshots suggest a history Noah has never fully understood, one rooted in Nazi-occupied France, where moral lines were blurred and secrets buried.

Just as he is set to depart, Noah receives a call that shatters his plans. A child welfare officer informs him that he is the last living relative of eleven-year-old Michael Young, the son of his long-estranged, now-deceased nephew Victor. Michael’s grandmother, who had been raising him, has died. His mother, Amber, is incarcerated. With no one left to care for the boy, the system looms, threatening to place him in a group home. Reluctantly, Noah agrees to meet Amber and consider taking Michael in – a temporary arrangement, he insists, only for a few weeks.

Their encounter at the correctional facility is fraught with tension. Amber is suspicious of Noah, seeing only a stranger who claims a blood tie to her son. Noah, uncomfortable and defensive, is unsure how to speak the language of broken families and teenage mothers. But the social worker, Rosa Figueroa, is resolute. With bureaucracy tightening and time slipping away, she brokers a fragile agreement: Noah will take Michael to France, and in return, Amber avoids seeing her child consumed by the foster system. The passport is rushed. The tickets are booked. The odd couple departs.

Michael is nothing like Noah imagined. He is sharp-tongued, gadget-addicted, and perpetually defiant. Having bounced through schools and endured the instability of a troubled family, he trusts no one. His life is punctuated by loss and authority figures who disappoint. To him, Nice is not a holiday but a disruption, and Noah – old, uptight, unfamiliar – is merely the latest adult to be endured.

Their arrival in Nice begins with distance. Noah attempts to immerse himself in his quiet mission, trying to decipher Margot’s photos and uncover who she was during the war. Was she complicit? Was she brave? The images offer no easy answers: a street corner, a couple from behind, an etched sign. His mother, who had once worked under the revered photographer Père Sonne, left behind work that seems almost deliberately obscure. As he revisits childhood landmarks and archives, Noah slowly unearths the possibility that Margot was not simply a passive observer during the Nazi occupation. She may have been involved in a clandestine resistance network that saved Jewish children – or she may have informed on them.

Meanwhile, Michael resists the city’s charms. He snacks on junk food, defies instructions, and tests every boundary. Yet Noah begins to sense the boy’s underlying intelligence – the way he observes, the way he questions. When Michael shows an unexpected interest in the investigation into Margot’s past, a tentative bond begins to form. They move through the city together, tracing shadows. Michael challenges Noah’s assumptions, pushes back on his interpretations, and suggests alternate possibilities with a fresh, if occasionally confrontational, perspective.

The weight of Margot’s secrets draws them into the archives of Nice’s wartime history. They visit synagogues, libraries, and museums. They speak to elderly locals and examine old records. Each revelation complicates the portrait of Margot. There is evidence that she knew of a plan to hide Jewish children and that she may have used her father’s photographic equipment to forge documents. But there are also hints of betrayal – that someone close had informed the Gestapo. Noah is torn between pride and doubt, between the desire to honor his mother and the fear of discovering a darker truth.

As they piece together the past, the present shifts. Michael, once unruly, begins to soften. He shares fragments of his own story – his love for his grandmother, the chaos of living with Victor, the confusion surrounding his mother’s arrest. He is still difficult, still volatile, but moments of connection begin to outweigh the conflicts. He and Noah bicker, tease, and challenge each other, but something sturdier begins to root between them – a fragile, often unspoken form of trust.

Their search leads them to an aging man who might hold the final clue. He recalls Margot as a brave and careful woman, someone who operated at great personal risk. The photographs, he explains, were part of an underground effort – messages hidden in plain sight, markers for those who knew how to read them. Margot had indeed helped save children. But the betrayal had come from another quarter entirely, and she had paid a quiet price for her silence and complicity in that harrowing time.

Noah is relieved, but not triumphant. The past has offered no absolution, only a fuller picture of human complexity. Margot was flawed, as they all are, but she had acted with courage. He is left not with a neat conclusion, but with a deeper understanding of legacy – how acts of compassion, sacrifice, and secrecy ripple across generations.

Their time in France ends not with grand declarations, but with gestures of quiet affection. Michael writes in his school-mandated travel diary, not simply out of obligation, but with a growing sense of authorship. Noah, still irritable and opinionated, now sets two breakfast plates instead of one. They return to New York changed – not fixed, not bound forever, but connected by something more resilient than obligation.

In a city that never rests, the apartment that once felt too silent now holds the echo of another voice. The photographs of the past have found their context. The boy has found a momentary anchor. And the old man, who thought himself finished with surprises, now finds himself beginning again.

Main Characters

• Noah Selvaggio – A 79-year-old retired chemistry professor and widower, Noah is methodical, introspective, and somewhat resistant to disruption. Having lived a structured life in New York, he plans a solitary journey to his birthplace, Nice, to rediscover family roots. His life is upended when he becomes the temporary guardian of his great-nephew. Throughout the novel, Noah evolves from a man entrenched in routine to one capable of deep emotional flexibility and renewed purpose.
• Michael Young – Eleven years old and recently orphaned, Michael is streetwise, fiercely independent, and troubled by past trauma. Shuffled through the foster system, he is skeptical of adult authority and emotionally guarded. Yet under his tough exterior lies intelligence, resilience, and a yearning for stability. His evolving relationship with Noah is central to the story’s emotional arc.
• Margot Selvaggio – Though deceased before the story begins, Noah’s mother Margot casts a long shadow through the photographs she left behind. Her ambiguous past during WWII in occupied France raises questions that propel Noah’s journey. As her secrets unfold, Margot emerges as a figure of quiet resistance and complex morality.
• Rosa Figueroa – A weary but committed social worker, Rosa plays a pivotal role in connecting Noah and Michael. She operates under bureaucratic pressure but is driven by a deep sense of justice and care for the vulnerable.

Theme

• Memory and Historical Legacy – The novel explores how personal and collective histories intertwine. Noah’s investigation into his mother’s past—fueled by cryptic wartime photographs—raises issues of complicity, silence, and the inheritance of memory. Donoghue suggests that understanding the past is key to shaping one’s moral compass in the present.
• Family and Kinship – Donoghue challenges conventional definitions of family. Though Noah and Michael are near strangers at first, the novel shows that kinship can be forged through empathy, patience, and shared experience rather than blood alone. Their evolving dynamic speaks to the potential for healing and belonging across generational divides.
• Aging and Youth – The juxtaposition of Noah’s old age and Michael’s adolescence highlights the limitations and possibilities inherent in both life stages. Through their clashing perspectives, Donoghue addresses themes of relevance, vulnerability, and growth. The journey forces both characters to confront and transcend their assumptions about one another.
• War and Moral Ambiguity – Margot’s story during WWII and the choices she may have made—some heroic, others morally murky—underscore the theme of ethical complexity. Donoghue deftly avoids simplistic categorizations of good and evil, emphasizing the gray areas of survival and resistance during conflict.

Writing Style and Tone

Emma Donoghue employs a crisp, observant prose style that balances introspection with sharp dialogue. Her language is rich with detail but avoids sentimentality, creating emotional resonance through restraint and nuance. The narrative often shifts seamlessly between external action and internal monologue, especially in Noah’s perspective, allowing readers intimate access to his doubts, regrets, and tentative hopes.

The tone of Akin is quietly elegiac yet tinged with humor. Donoghue navigates themes of grief, loss, and reconciliation without descending into melodrama. Instead, the story unfolds with a gentle rhythm, reflecting both the slowness of healing and the abruptness with which life can change. Even in moments of tension, Donoghue’s tone remains compassionate, offering a hopeful vision of human connection amid personal and historical upheaval.