Author: Emma Donoghue

Such a nice story. Noah is approaching his eightieth birthday and looking forward to a trip to Nice to celebrate; he was born there but hasn’t been back since he was four years old. A couple of days before he is set to leave he receives a call from a social worker who asks him to take temporary parental responsibility for his eleven-year old great nephew, Michael.

The trip the two embark on is full of memories for Noah; he hopes to solve the mystery behind several of his mother’s photos. As the two get to know one another, Michael is full of ideas about the photos that might help Noah. Though not without its problems a relationship develops between the two.

I seldom mark a quote from a book but this one really sums up Noah’s feelings about his new responsibility: “So many ways Noah couldn’t protect this boy; it was like traveling with a bag of bananas he had little chance of delivering unbruised.”

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *