Book Review (Room: A Novel)

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

One of the first things I did when I moved to Saint Louis was join WUMCHA, a women's organization for spouse's/significant other's of employees of BJC.  It is such a wonderful group of women that are so supportize and UNDERSTANDING of life as a resident's wife.  Although alot of the women have kids, there are numerous events that I make an effort to attend each month including "Taste of the Town", "Girls Night Out", and "Book Club".  I hosted book club this last month and Room: A Novel was the book that was selected.  Although this wasn't my pick, it was a quick read.  I would defintely say the first half of the book is significantly better than the second half, but still worth reading in your spare time. It was an interesting perspective as it is told through the eyes of a five year old little boy who spent all his years locked in a single room.

Editorial Review on Amazon.com

In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue's Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances. A stunning and original novel of survival in captivity, readers who enter Room will leave staggered, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time. --Lynette Mong