Published 2010 / Length 321 pages
Told through his eyes, this is the story of five-year-old Jack and his mother, who live together in Room. Like any other child, Jack likes watching cartoons on TV, reading storybooks and playing with his Ma. He has a snake under the bed made from eggshells and a toy Jeep with a remote control. But Room is an eleven-byeleven foot space with a locked door, where Jack was born and his Ma has been held captive since she was kidnapped at nineteen. A remarkable story about the relationship between mother and son, and the love which allows them to survive the impossible, Room is a deeply compelling account of resilience and strength, based on real-life cases of long-term confinement. The child-like narrative is uplifting and heart-breakingly funny, starkly contrasting with the dark storyline and the extraordinary challenge facing Jack and his mother. At one stage, Ma faces the trauma of whether or not to tell Jack about the outside world and the reality of their imprisonment, a decision the reader cannot help but question. The strangely complex relationship between Ma and her captor, Old Nick, also encourages the reader to think more about their notions of freedom, independence and dependence on others, and what might happen if this was taken out of our control.
‘In the hands of a lesser author, Room could have felt both exploitative and sensationalist thanks to its subject matter. Instead, it makes the reader think about the importance of freedom and its costs. Above all though, it is a novel about the love between a mother and her child. Which is why, despite its darkest of settings, Room is an affecting and uplifting read.’ – Evening Standard
• Why do you think that the author chooses not to tell us more about the kidnapper, Old Nick, and keeps his appearances to a minimum? What is the effect of this?
• What does the novel have to say about the impact of longterm confinement on a young child, and also on someone who has known the outside world like Ma?
• There is a turning point in the novel when Ma decides to tell Jack about the outside world. This is a major decision for her, but do you think Jack should have been told about it from the start?
• Room was shortlisted for both the Man Booker Prize (2010) and the Orange Prize (2011), and won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 2011 (Canada and the Caribbean).
• The novel was conceived after Emma Donoghue heard about the case of Felix, the five-year-old boy from the Josef Fritzl case in 2008, who was also born in confinement.
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by MARK HADDON – a fascinating narrative from the perspective of an autistic child.
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by LIONEL SHRIVER (see here) – this book addresses raising children and the question of nature versus nurture in their later lives.
• Into The Darkest Corner by ELIZABETH HAYNES – a debut crime novel tackling domestic violence and OCD, and the dangers of all-consuming relationships.