A moving literary novel by Emma Donoghue. The story follows Noah Selvaggio, a retired chemistry professor in his late seventies, whose carefully planned trip to the French Riviera is unexpectedly disrupted when he becomes responsible for his eleven-year-old great-nephew, Michael. As the unlikely pair travel together through France, they uncover long-buried family secrets connected to World War II. Through their evolving relationship, the novel explores themes of family, memory, identity, forgiveness, and the bonds that connect generations.