Room by Emma Donoghue

Last night the Woman had our computer and I couldn’t get to the book I was reading, so I snagged her Kindle and read one of hers. I’m glad I did.

Room (2010) by Emma Donoghue tells the fictional story of Jack, who has lived all his life locked in a single room with his mother. Her kidnapper took her at age 19, impregnated her, and keeps her and Jack apart from the world. Donoghue found her inspiration from the infamous Fritzl case in Austria.

Sounds dark, right? Oddly, the author lightens the darkness greatly as she tells the story from Jack’s five-year-old viewpoint.

I’m halfway through the book, to the point where Jack and his mother have escaped. Now they have to deal with what Jack calls Outside. He never knew Outside was so big. Sounds like a metaphor for something.