Room by Emma Donoghue is a novel about a young woman who was abducted as a teenager and held captive in a storage shed. The story begins seven years after her abduction and she has a five year old son, Jack, who is unaware that anything exists outside of the room. He believes everything he sees on his television set is imaginary, including the people, and knows that a man comes to deliver supplies and a bonus ‘treat’ on Sundays. The mother has built a routine for the child and created impressive imaginary games to keep them occupied throughout the day, but when Jack starts to question things he sees on television, the mother devises an elaborate plan for their escape—and it works!
Their adjustment to the outside world is the second part of the book and things we take for granted such as sunlight, fresh air and special relations, are experienced by Jack for the first time and so scary for him. The media is hard on the duo and almost proves too much for the mother. The book was a reminder of the real life story of Jaycee Dugard that was splashed all over the news a couple of years ago.
At first, the book was difficult for me to get into. I was thrown off by certain aspects of it and felt incredibly sad for both mother and son; however, when I read on, I could hardly put the book down. It was a great read and I recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different.
