A powerful story about captivity, freedom and innocence.

Genre: Drama / Fiction

Pages: 498

First published: 2015

Original language: English

The plot: Jack, a 5 year old boy, tells us about his life with his Mother (Ma). Ma and Jack live in a single room with no access to the outside world. They are visited at night by Old Nick. Kidnapped and kept captive in Room long before Jack was born, Ma cares for her son as best she can. The story follows their daring escape and eventual adjustment to the real world, a world which Jack has never experienced.

What did I think of the book?

Room is a powerful read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Told in the voice of a 5 year old boy, the language is that of a child, and can take some getting used to at first. What this book does so well is tell the story of a young boy who has endured a terrible ordeal, but doesn’t realize it. Everything Jack experiences in Room, from never feeling sunlight on his skin, malnutrition and experiencing Ma’s severe depression first hand, he views as normal. For the reader, that is a devastating realization and what gives Room its power.

It made me laugh and want to cry in equal measure. My heart broke for Jack and Ma throughout.

What was most interesting about this book?

Ma’s love for her son, despite giving birth to him in the most terrible of circumstances, shone through in her strength. True, she has periods of debilitating depression (portrayed in devastating detail after the pair’s first escape attempt fails). But her courage and love for Jack helps him to see the world in a way that no other child could. At the end, I found myself wondering what would become of Ma and Jack: will Jack be able to cope at school? Will he eventually forget Room? (The psychologist whom we meet in the book’s third act certainly believes so) Will Ma love again? Will she build a career, and reconnect with her friends? Although the narrative felt finished, it left many unanswered questions.

What am I going to take away from this book?

I was left with an innate sense that life is precious. Life can change in a moment, events can occur after which we are never the same. Events like those portrayed in Room are real; kidnapping and violence against women take place across the world. Women like Ma exist. This novel gives a very realistic portrayal of these issues, it sugar coats nothing and I respected the author for such a strong portrayal of a hard hitting subject.

I loved this book for the emotions it created in me, and how invested I felt in the story. I knew the plot from seeing the film version, but the book revealed new layers to the narrative that I hadn’t noticed previously. I rooted for Ma and Jack from the beginning, and hoped at the end that they would be happy, and live a good life.

Will I enjoy this book?

You will. Behind the simplicity of the language, it’s a hard hitting book, and some aspects of it may be triggering (violence against women, sexual assault, kidnap). But it is a riveting read, and I would not hesitate to recommend it.

Rating: 5/5