(Current fiction and quality fiction of the past.)
Having read the captivating first chapter of “Room” (Little Brown and Company - Hachette Book Group) by Emma Donoghue, Examiner plowed on into the small world of its characters to become lost in the their own unique space, or rather, to have discovered how universal smallness can be.
Born in Dublin in 1969, the redheaded Irish lady Emma Donoghue is a writer of contemporary and historical fiction whose novels include the bestselling "Slammerkin," "The Sealed Letter," "Landing," "Life Mask," "Hood," and "Stirfry." Her story collections are "The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits," "Kissing the Witch," and "Touchy Subjects." She also writes literary history, and plays for stage and radio from her home in picturesque London, Ontario.
With a track record like that, why shouldn’t the 41-year old produce something as stunning as “Room”? Examiner is not alone in this enthrallment. Says the Washington Post: “. . . one of the most affecting and subtly profound novels of the year.”
As for the story, Lynette Mong observed for Amazon: “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.” –Copyright © Amazon
Aimee Bender wrote for The New York Times: “Donoghue goes the distance with ‘Room,’ and she brings her story to a powerful close that feels exactly right. This is a truly memorable novel, one that can be read through myriad lenses — psychological, sociological, political. It presents an utterly unique way to talk about love, all the while giving us a fresh, expansive eye on the world in which we live.”
Examiner ultimately notes that Donoghue’s writing is beautiful in its simplicity. Read the book!
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