Copyright 2010 by Little Brown and Co.
A coming-of-age novel told from the perspective of five year old, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother. Donoghue wrote this story after hearing of the Fritzl case in Austria and five year old Felix.
I wanted to share this book with everyone because it came to mind after the recent news about the escape of the missing trio from Cleveland, OH. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, along with a six year old girl believed to be Amanda Berry's daughter, were all found alive after 10 years of being held in captivity.
Cases like this are rare, but we have heard about a few of them over the past decade or so, including Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Lee Dugard, Natascha Kampusch, Elizabeth Fritzl, and more.
Although I am overjoyed and glad to hear of these individuals escapes, I am so deeply saddened by what they have gone through and worry about the struggles they will endure to adjust to life after such a horrible ordeal.
The Room by Emma Donoghue goes into details of life confined to a room, Jack and his mother's escape, and adjusting to life afterwards.
Synopsis-
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.
My thoughts go out to the Amanda, Gina, and Michelle and all of the other victims of such hateful crimes of captivity.
-Rebecca
6 comments:
I have not heard of this book, but it certainly is timely given the recent events. This story makes me so sad.
That story just broke my heart, Rebecca. Those poor women... well, their lives were taken from them in a way. They'll never get to have a 'normal' now and that's unspeakably awful to do to someone.
I recall the Austria case, but I hadn't heard of this book. Definitely going to check it out.
I've picked up that book at the library several times, but for some reason, I always hesitate to check it out. Now with everything that's happened recently, I don't know if I'll ever bring myself to read it. Just thinking about the subject is so horrible...
I've not heard of this book, but it sounds like an amazing story. I love reading stories from the perspective of a child. I'll definitely put this on my ever-growing 'to read' list.
So sad about the trio. It's hard to imagine that these things actually happen, yet they do.
I'll have to check the book out--if I can handle that type of read. Sometimes it's a little to hard to venture into that territory even in fiction.
Hi, Rebecca, Haven't read the book, but I have heard of it. Interestingly, right now I'm watching a documentary about Jaycee Lee Dugard and her captor. Thanks for keeping things like this on the front burner.
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