Recensie: Akin

43209291

Auteur: Emma Donoghue
Titel: Akin
Genre: Historische fictie
Taal: Engels
Jaar: 2019
ISBN: 9781529019964
Aantal pagina’s: 352
Gelezen: Juli 2021
♥♥♥♥

Omslagtekst:
A retired New York professor’s life is thrown into chaos when he takes a young great-nephew to the French Riviera, in hopes of uncovering his own mother’s wartime secrets in the next masterpiece from New York Times bestselling author Emma Donoghue.

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 first visit back to Nice since he was a child, bringing with him a handful of puzzling photos he’s discovered from his mother’s wartime years. But he receives a call from social services: Noah is the closest available relative of an eleven-year-old great-nephew he’s never met, who urgently needs someone to look after him. Out of a feeling of obligation, Noah agrees to take Michael along on his trip.

Much has changed in this famously charming seaside mecca, still haunted by memories of the Nazi occupation. The unlikely duo, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, bicker about everything from steak frites to screen time. But Noah gradually comes to appreciate the boy’s truculent wit, and Michael’s ease with tech and sharp eye help Noah unearth troubling details about their family’s past. Both come to grasp the risks 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 an international bestseller, Akin is a funny, heart-wrenching tale of an old man and a boy, born two generations apart, who unpick their painful story and start to write a new one together.

Lees verder
Advertentie

Recensie: Drawing Lessons

34663137

Auteur: Patricia Sands
Titel: Drawing Lessons
Genre: Contemporary fictie
Taal: Engels
Jaar: 2017
ISBN: 9781542045872
Aantal pagina’s: 352
Gelezen: Juni 2021
♥♥♥♥

Omslagtekst:
Sixty-two-year-old Arianna arrives in the South of France for a two-week artists’ workshop full of anticipation but burdened by guilt. Back home in Toronto, she has been living with the devastating diagnosis of her husband’s dementia and the heartbreak of watching the man she has loved for decades slip away before her eyes. What does her future hold without Ben? Before her is a blank canvas.

Encouraged by her family to take some time for herself, she has traveled to Arles to set up her easel in the same fields of poppies and sunflowers that inspired Van Gogh. Gradually, she rediscovers the inner artist she abandoned long ago. Drawing strength from the warm companionship and gentle wisdom of her fellow artists at the retreat—as well as the vitality of guest lecturer Jacques de Villeneuve, an artist and a cowboy—Arianna searches her heart for permission to embrace the life in front of her and, like the sunflowers, once again face the light.

Lees verder

Showcase

ShowcaseGoed, ik weet dat het geen zondag is, maar alsnog wil ik jullie een showcase geven. Dat wilde ik eigenlijk van het weekend al doen, maar vrijdag, zaterdag én zondag zaten vol met familieverplichtingen dus ik ben er simpelweg niet aan toe gekomen. Maar omdat ik toch wat toffe boeken heb (één in het bijzonder waar ik superduper mega blij mee ben, je weet welke ik bedoel als je me op instagram volgt, dus als je dat nog niet doet, moet je dat misschien gaan doen) wilde ik jullie niet langer laten wachten. So let’s go!
Lees verder