Room: A Novel
In her unforgettable new novel, beloved lesbian author and anthologist Emma Donoghue (Landing, Slammerkin) marks a stunning thematic shift. Experienced through the perceptions of five-year-old Jack, Room tells the story of a mother and son held in captivity, of the mother’s struggle for survival, and Jack’s innocent acceptance of the only world he’s ever known. While carefully unraveling the mystery of their imprisonment, Donoghue explores the unconditional bond between mother and child in a way few, if any, writers have. Our own Linda Bubon described Room as “one of the most memorable and best books I have ever read.” Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Donahue read from what is certain to be one of the most talked about books of the year.
“Room is that rarest of entities, an entirely original work of art. I mean it as the highest possible praise when I tell you that I can’t compare it to any other book. Suffice to say that it’s potent, darkly beautiful, and revelatory.”
-Michael Cunningham
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.