g re at-ne phe w M ich a e l. Ne it he r of t he m i s h appy w it h t h i s a r r a n g e -
ment, and both struggle to come to terms with their situation.
Meanwhile, Noah is busy trying to discover whether his mother
was involved with the French Resistance – or was in fact working for
France’s Nazi occupiers and the Vichy regime that supported them.
The book has its origins in the two years Donoghue spent living
with her family in Nice. ‘I love places that are steeped in history,’ she
says. ‘Nice is surreal because it is so
pleasure-filled – you are basking in
sunshine, you are covered in icing
sugar as you eat a pastry – but you look
up and there’s a plaque commemo-
rating men who were hanged by the
Nazis on that very pillar.’ She began to
look into the history of the Resistance,
and was both fascinated and perturbed
by what she found. ‘In France, people
talk as if the movement was something
everyone took part in,’ she says. ‘But
there’s very little about how the Vichy
government collaborated with the
Germans. At one point, they were
offering the Nazis more Jews than they
had been asked for. One study said that
maybe two per cent of the population
had any involvement in the Resistance.’
The investigation of this bleak history is leavened by the comedy
and pathos of the growing – and unlikely – connection between
Noah and Michael. Interestingly, Michael began, for Donoghue,
purely as a literary device: something to put an obstacle in Noah’s
path. But, she says, real sentiment can come from the most technical
motives. ‘They can end up being emotionally the heart of the story
- cold-blooded decisions can lead to very warm-blooded moments.’
The result is a delicate and moving reminder of the way in which our
human stories are made from such practical choices – often in life
as well as literature.
‘Akin’ by Emma Donoghue (£16.99, Picador) is published on 3 October.
160 | HARPER’S BAZAAR | November 2019 http://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk
PHOTOGRAPHS: TIM BEDDOW/THE INTERIOR ARCHIVE. SEE STOCKISTS FOR DETAILS
mma Donoghue is perhaps most famous for her 2010 novel
Room, written in the voice of five-year-old Jack, who is
being held captive along with his mother. Its blend of the
horrifying and the quotidian, showing how children seek
normality in any circumstances, made it a bestseller. Room was short-
listed for the Orange Prize and for the Man Booker Prize, and in 2015
adapted into a film starring Brie Larson.
But to focus on a single book is to
miss the range of Donoghue’s achieve-
ments. As she points out when we
speak on the phone – I’m in London,
England, and she’s in London, Ontario,
where she lives with her partner Chris
and their two children, Finn and Una
- she has been writing full-time since
she was 19. Her first novel, Stir-Fry,
set in contemporary Dublin, appeared
in 1994, followed by Hood in 1995. In
2000, Slammerkin – inspired by an 18th-
century murder on the Welsh Borders - saw her move into historical narra-
tive, a genre at which she has become
adept. Since then, there have been
short stories, books for young readers,
screenplays and scholarly titles (she
has a PhD in literature from Cambridge University).
Yet Donoghue laughs when I express wonder at the variety of
her accomplishments. ‘I think it’s a kind of restlessness,’ she says. ‘If
I were to set three novels in the same time and place, I’d get bored;
my prose would flag. I’m stimulating my imagination, I suppose.’
Her latest tale, Akin, is set in the present day but delves into the
dark aftermath of World War II. Noah, a New York-based scientist
on the cusp of his 80th birthday, is preparing to travel to the South
of France, where he was born as the war was breaking out. Sent to
America to escape the conflict as a child, he is now embarking on
his first trip back to his birthplace. But just as he is about to set off,
he finds himself made the temporary guardian of his 11-year-old
RELATIVE
VA L U E S
A retired professor and his
great-nephew uncover their
family’s wartime secrets in Emma
Donoghue’s latest novel
By ERICA WAGNER
Our Lady of Kibeho at
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Set in 1980s Rwanda, Katori Hall’s
powerful drama about a schoolgirl’s
premonition of a national tragedy
features live music performed by
a superb ensemble cast.
Until 2 November (www.stratfordeast.com).
[Blank] at the Donmar Warehouse
Written by Alice Birch and directed by Maria
Aberg, this heart-rending new play is composed
of 1 0 0 scenes that collectively interrogate the
impact of the criminal-justice system on women.
11 October to 30 November
(www.donmarwarehouse.com).
Unknown Rivers at Hampstead Theatre
The Nigerian-born playwright Chinonyerem
Odimba celebrates sisterhood in this
poignant depiction of a young woman
recovering from trauma with the help
of her female friends.
31 October to 7 December
(www.hampsteadtheatre.com). FH
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BOOKS