Room

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The award-winning bestseller that became one of the most talked about and memorable novels of the decade, Room is "utterly gripping...a heart-stopping novel" (San Francisco Chronicle).   Held captive for years in a small shed, a woman and her precocious young son finally gain their freedom, and the boy experiences the outside world for the first time.To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. 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's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating — a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.

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9780316098335
9780316098328
9780316174626
9781607886280
9780316129114
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Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Though Room is psychological fiction and Dear Child is a thriller, both suspenseful and fast-paced novels center on the aftermath of a woman's abduction and her years spent living in captivity with her child. -- Kaitlin Conner
In these intense, affecting stories, a young woman is abducted and held for years by a sociopath, then returned to society physically unharmed, but definitely not "normal." Their reception by family and community might surprise and intrigue readers. -- Jen Baker
The girl in the red coat - Hamer, Kate
The child narrators in these psychological suspense stories are so authentic and compelling that readers may be unable to put the books down. Focused on character, both effectively describe the terror of kidnapping and the disturbing relationship victims have with their captors. -- Jen Baker
In the adrenaline-fueled, heart-pounding thriller Fierce Kingdom and the haunting Room, mothers must protect their young sons from truly understanding their desperate situations. Both suspenseful books use the maternal bond to elevate tension. -- Shauna Griffin
Both of these disturbing psychological suspense stories feature teenage girls abducted and held captive for many years and the soul-destroying memories and fears that keep them from living normally after their escape. Relatable, likeable characters make both unforgettable. -- Jen Baker
Above - Morley, Isla
For another tale of captivity and hard-won freedom for a mother and son, try Above, which spans more than 15 years of imprisonment and their eventual escape. While Room is realistically set in the present, Above has a post-apocalyptic element. -- Shauna Griffin
Each featuring a strong female character held captive for many years, these detailed, suspenseful novels address complicated relationships and the challenges of adjusting to the real world. -- Shauna Griffin
Though their ages and therefore their understanding of their situations differ -- as do the situations themselves -- the perceptions and experiences of the child narrators of these heartwrenching books are similarly haunting and suspenseful. -- Shauna Griffin
Though there are certainly differences in their terrible predicaments, the child narrators in these intense, emotionally riveting novels relate their understanding of their worlds in ways that masterfully mix terror with bits of wonder and humor, just as children would. -- Shauna Griffin
Though Room portrays the experiences of a little boy (who was born in captivity) and his mother, and Pretty Is portrays two women who had survived childhood abduction, both movingly depict the experience of being kidnapped and held for years. -- Katherine Johnson
Young women kidnapped and forced to bear their captor's child feature in these distressing novels. While Room details both captivity and life after escape, Baby Doll focuses much more closely on the challenges of returning home after lengthy captivity. -- Shauna Griffin
These heartwrenching tales explore the tragic worlds of captivity and sudden freedom (Room) and poverty (Djinn Patrol), as seen through the eyes of children. Though the settings are vastly different, the perspective is similarly innocent. -- Shauna Griffin

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Sarah Waters and Emma Donoghue both write fiction that focuses on female characters and explores aspects of their sexuality. Their stories are often suspenseful, with intricate plots and a variety of historical and modern settings. Their subject matter can be subversive and sometimes disturbing, but it makes for compelling reading. -- Keeley Murray
Ellis Avery and Emma Donoghue have a knack for bringing the past to life, whether it's 1927 Paris, 1876 San Francisco, or many other places and times. Their historical fiction features complex characters and rich detail. Avery is steamy and bittersweet, while Donoghue is disturbing and suspenseful. -- Mike Nilsson
Emma Donoghue and A. S. Byatt write intense, psychological short stories and novels enhanced with a lyrical, inventive writing style. Both authors delight in recasting myth and legend, as well as crafting vivid historical settings. Whatever their subject matter, Byatt and Donoghue excel at creating memorable and multi-faceted female characters. -- Keeley Murray
Betty Smith and Emma Donoghue create magic with their coming-of-age tales. Smith fancies pre-war Brooklyn as her setting, while Donoghue chooses either contemporary London or eighteenth-century London. Both authors conjure complex protagonists and rich detail to create emotionally resonant novels. -- Mike Nilsson
Favoring strong female protagonists, both Hannah Kent and Emma Donoghue write issue-oriented historical fiction (often set in Ireland) that examines superstition, sexism, and nascent feminism. Where Kent is spare and dramatic, Donoghue is lush and lyrical; each tells haunting tales where reason is pitted against ignorance, misogyny, or fear. -- Mike Nilsson
Writing literary-inflected historical fiction ranging from the Scott polar expedition (Beryl Bainbridge) to eighteenth-century London prostitution (Emma Donoghue), these authors combine in-depth character studies, a strong sense of place, and moving narratives. -- Mike Nilsson
These authors' works have the appeal factors haunting, disturbing, and bleak, and they have the subjects "mother and child" and "loss"; and include the identity "lgbtqia+."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Five-year-old Jack has never known anything of life beyond Room, the 11-square-foot space he shares with his mother. Jack has learned to read, count, and process an imaginary world Outside through television. At night he sleeps in a wardrobe in case Old Nick comes to visit, bringing supplies and frightening intrusion. Worried about his curiosity and her own desperation, his mother reveals to Jack that the Outside is real and that they must escape. She tells him that she was kidnapped by Old Nick and has been held secluded in Room for seven years. Jack is brave enough to carry out their plan, and the two of them are compelled to adjust to life Outside, with its bright lights and noise and people touching. What is reconnection for his mother is discovery for Jack, who is soon overwhelmed by the changes in his mother and a world coming at him fast and furiously. Room is beautifully written as a first-person narrative from Jack's perspective, and within it, Donoghue has constructed a quiet, private, and menacing world that slowly unbends with a mother and son's love and determination.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

Five-year-old Jack and his Ma live and eat and play and sleep in one room-an 11x11-foot space that is their prison-captives of the terrifying man Jack calls Old Nick. But as Jack grows older and more curious, it becomes clear that the room will not be able to hold him and Ma forever. Michal Friedman shines as Jack; her narration is haunting and compelling in its every inflection and tone. The voice she creates for Jack is so convincing, listeners may even mistake her for an actual child. Her powerful performance is complemented by Robert Petcoff's sinister Old Nick, and Ellen Archer's portrayal of resourceful Ma, whose gentle voice is infused with patience, terror, and hope. The chemistry between the players creates a gem of an audiobook that will haunt listeners long after the story's end. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, July 12). (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Library Journal Review

Room is home to young Jack, a prison to his mother, and power to Old Nick. Jack's world explodes when his mother sends him on a mission that will change the lives of all three. VERDICT This original and unforgettable novel, with contemporary and timeless themes, is even more affecting for being told from the point of view of a child. [LJ 8/10; LJ Best Book of 2010] (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

Talented, versatile Donoghue (The Sealed Letter, 2008, etc.) relates a searing tale of survival and recovery, in the voice of a five-year-old boy.Jack has never known a life beyond Room. His Ma gave birth to him on Rug; the stains are still there. At night, he has to stay in Wardrobe when Old Nick comes to visit. Still, he and Ma have a comfortable routine, with daily activities like Phys Ed and Laundry. Jack knows how to read and do math, but has no idea the images he sees on the television represent a real world. We gradually learn that Ma (we never know her name) was abducted and imprisoned in a backyard shed when she was 19; her captor brings them food and other necessities, but he's capricious. An ugly incident after Jack attracts Old Nick's unwelcome attention renews Ma's determination to liberate herself and her son; the book's first half climaxes with a nail-biting escape. Donoghue brilliantly shows mother and son grappling with very different issues as they adjust to freedom. "In Room I was safe and Outside is the scary," Jack thinks, unnerved by new things like showers, grass and window shades. He clings to the familiar objects rescued from Room (their abuser has been found), while Ma flinches at these physical reminders of her captivity. Desperate to return to normalcy, she has to grapple with a son who has never known normalcy and isn't sure he likes it. In the story's most heartbreaking moments, it seems that Ma may be unable to live with the choices she made to protect Jack. But his narration reveals that she's nurtured a smart, perceptive and willful boyodd, for sure, but resilient, and surely Ma can find that resilience in herself. A haunting final scene doesn't promise quick cures, but shows Jack and Ma putting the past behind them.Wrenching, as befits the grim subject matter, but also tender, touching and at times unexpectedly funny.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

Five-year-old Jack has never known anything of life beyond Room, the 11-square-foot space he shares with his mother. Jack has learned to read, count, and process an imaginary world Outside through television. At night he sleeps in a wardrobe in case Old Nick comes to visit, bringing supplies and frightening intrusion. Worried about his curiosity and her own desperation, his mother reveals to Jack that the Outside is real and that they must escape. She tells him that she was kidnapped by Old Nick and has been held secluded in Room for seven years. Jack is brave enough to carry out their plan, and the two of them are compelled to adjust to life Outside, with its bright lights and noise and people touching. What is reconnection for his mother is discovery for Jack, who is soon overwhelmed by the changes in his mother and a world coming at him fast and furiously. Room is beautifully written as a first-person narrative from Jack's perspective, and within it, Donoghue has constructed a quiet, private, and menacing world that slowly unbends with a mother and son's love and determination.

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Library Journal Reviews

Jack has just turned five and is oh so excited. But his story, which he narrates in a child's mixed-up, exuberant fashion, is lacerating; he's been raised in a single room, where he and his mother are confined by the ominous Old Nick. Jack doesn't know what he's missing-"I thought the word for us was real. The persons on TV are made just of colors"-but as his mother gets her nerve up, that's about to change. Clearly referencing reports in the news of young women held against their will but fablelike in the telling, this is both beautiful and scary. Donoghue wrote the best-selling Slammerkin; bracing for most readers and a good book-club pick. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
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Library Journal Reviews

Five-year-old Jack and his Ma enjoy their long days together, playing games, watching TV, and reading favorite stories. Through Jack's narration, it slowly becomes apparent that their pleasant days are shrouded by a horrifying secret. Seven years ago, his 19-year-old Ma was abducted and has since been held captive—in one small room. To her abductor she is nothing more than a sex slave, with Jack as a result, yet she finds the courage to raise her child with constant love under these most abhorrent circumstances. He is a bright child—bright enough, in fact, to help his mother successfully carry out a plan of escape. Once they get to the outside world, the sense of relief is short lived, as Jack is suddenly faced with an entirely new worldview (with things he never imagined, like other people, buildings, and even family) while his mother attempts to deal with her own psychological trauma. VERDICT Gripping, riveting, and close to the bone, this story grabs you and doesn't let go. Donoghue (The Sealed Letter) skillfully builds a suspenseful narrative evoking fear and hate and hope—but most of all, the triumph of a mother's ferocious love. Highly recommended for readers of popular fiction. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/10.]—Susanne Wells, P.L. of Cincinnati & Hamilton Cty.

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Library Journal Reviews

Room is home to young Jack, a prison to his mother, and power to Old Nick. Jack's world explodes when his mother sends him on a mission that will change the lives of all three. VERDICT This original and unforgettable novel, with contemporary and timeless themes, is even more affecting for being told from the point of view of a child. [LJ 8/10; LJ Best Book of 2010]

[Page 101]. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Publishers Weekly Reviews

At the start of Donoghue's powerful new novel, narrator Jack and his mother, who was kidnapped seven years earlier when she was a 19-year-old college student, celebrate his fifth birthday. They live in a tiny, 11-foot-square soundproofed cell in a converted shed in the kidnapper's yard. The sociopath, whom Jack has dubbed Old Nick, visits at night, grudgingly doling out food and supplies. Seen entirely through Jack's eyes and childlike perceptions, the developments in this novel--there are enough plot twists to provide a dramatic arc of breathtaking suspense--are astonishing. Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful, creating exercise games, makeshift toys, and reading and math lessons to fill their days. And while Donoghue (Slammerkin) brilliantly portrays the psyche of a child raised in captivity, the story's intensity cranks up dramatically when, halfway through the novel and after a nail-biting escape attempt, Jack is introduced to the outside world. While there have been several true-life stories of women and children held captive, little has been written about the pain of re-entry, and Donoghue's bravado in investigating that potentially terrifying transformation grants the novel a frightening resonance that will keep readers rapt. (Sept.)

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