Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Back Bay Books (2015), Edition: Media Tie In, 352 pages
Description
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. But Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful--and attempts a nail-biting escape.
Media reviews
Room is disturbing, thrilling, and emotionally compelling. Emma Donoghue has produced a novel that is sure to stay in the minds of readers for years to come.
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.
the book’s second half is less effective than its first. Perhaps this is inevitable given the changed circumstances of the protagonists. The walls that enclosed them also intensified their drama.
Wrenching, as befits the grim subject matter, but also tender, touching and at times unexpectedly funny.
Donoghue's great strength -- apart from her storytelling gift -- is her emotional intelligence. We get just enough information to feel uncomfortable -- and therefore, to question our assumptions about how family life ought to be; and to know that life will always be an unequal struggle.
Jack's tale is more than a victim-and-survivor story: it works as a study of child development, shows the power of language and storytelling, and is a kind of sustained poem in praise of motherhood and parental love.
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2010)
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2011)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2012)
Audie Award (Finalist — 2011)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 9-12 — 2012)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2013)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Quarterfinalist — 2011)
Governor General's Literary Award (Finalist — 2010)
Alex Award (2011)
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Winner — 2011)
Indies Choice Book Award (Winner — Adult Fiction — 2011)
Salon Book Award (Fiction — 2010)
Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2013)
British Book Award (Winner — 2011)
Irish Book Award (Winner — Novel — 2010)
Lincoln Award: Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Award (Nominee — 2014)
Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award (Honour Book — 2011)
Libris Award (Winner — 2011)
Quill and Quire Book of the Year (Fiction and Poetry — 2010)
ALA Notable Book (2011)
Evergreen Award (Nominee — 2011)
Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize (Winner — 2010)
Europese Literatuurprijs (Longlist — 2011)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction & Poetry — 2010)
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction — 2010)
Library Journal Top Ten Book (2010)
Notable Books List (Fiction — 2011)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (2010)