Room

by Emma Donoghue (New York: Little, Brown, 2010)

“All our relatives, you’re related to them now too,” says Grandma. “What’s ours is yours.”

Room is narrated by five-year-old Jack, who has been kept in the same small space since the day he was born. Jack and his mother never go outside, and never see anybody except Old Nick, the man who keeps them prisoner, so they have come to rely on each other for everything. After an exhilarating escape from the confines of their old life, Jack and Ma must adjust to being Outside, and Jack has to accept that the strange new world – our modern environment – he now inhabits is safe and real. An original and suspenseful work of literature, Room is often disturbing but always compelling, a story that at its heart is about the strength of a mother’s devotion to her child.

Visit Jack and Ma’s Room here.