Room.
My latest recommended read.
There are those books that are enjoyable reads but eventually they blur into a sea of past reads that we can barely remember.
You know what I mean. Somebody mentions them and you think, "I know I read that but I really can't remember much about it"
Then there are books like Room.
This is one of those haunting, lingering books that years from now I promise you will be able to recall vividly.
I used to read more but then in the last couple of years ( about the time I started blogging) I found myself picking up a book less and less often.
Maybe it was the blizzard of 2011.
Maybe it is because our book club has decided to take a break and for the first time in a long time I am reading what I want to read and not something someone else had selected.
Whatever it is, this winter I have found myself spending fewer hours in front of the computer or television and more hours curled up with my ipad.
Reading can be addictive.
So much so that lately I find myself hurrying to get through my to do lists so I can get back to my book.
With this book I cheated a lot and would skip the list and go right for the book.
It was just that good.
In short this is a story about a young woman that has been kidnapped and held captive for seven years in an 11 x 11 foot room by a man referred to only as Old Nick. During that time she has given birth to a son. When the book begins her son, Jack, is five years old. Born into captivity, the room is the only world he has ever known.
What makes the book unique is that it is told through Jack's point of view.
Donoghue does an amazing job with this technique.
We are privy to how sheltered and protected Jack is by his young mother but we are still able to glean the nefariousness and repulsiveness of Old Nick and their situation without dwelling on the salacious details.
It is a story of not only survival but of resilience and empowerment.
Despite the darker side to this novel, there are moments of tenderness and hope.
It is available in hardback and on ibooks and Kindle.
If you have already read it I would love to hear what you think.
xoxo,
P
