Emma Donoghue - The Room

review by showhost

It's a book that will seep into your skin. It's hard to keep with at the beginning, it's a book that grows on you.

The dialogue and thoughts are from Jack who is 5yrs old and speaks a kind of child/pidgin english: 'why are the eyes of me shut', his look on life are those of an inquisitive 5yrs old and everything is taken literally.

Quote: "gimme five!'says a doctor, holding his hand up and wagging his fingers. I pretend I don't see, I'm not going to give him my fingers, I need them for me!"

Jack and Ma live in a room 11ft x 11ft. Ma was kidnapped by 'Old Nick' when she was 19 and put in The Room, a fortified shed in Old Nicks garden. The only light is from a skylight, secure,window. Jack was born in this room and has never stepped outside. They have a television which Jack considers to be all fantasy and Jack believes that there is no other life outside this Room. Ma has been prisoner for 7 years. The only person she sees is Old Nick who brings food and visits his Ma after 9pm when Jack is asleep in the wardrobe.
Ma has tried to escape but failed and been punished for it. Once when Ma angered 'Nick' they had no electric and no food for days. Is there no way out for them?
To say more would be giving away the third part of the book. But the third part is where it gets really interesting and thought provoking.
It is a slow book, especially at the beginning and the child/pidgin language may put readers off but once you get the gist of it and understand what is going on and an escape plan forms it starts to build up speed.