I first read Emma Donoghue’s Room last December, after it was recommended by a friend. Room is typical of one of the genre of books I usually tend to read, along the lines of Jodi Picoult and Martina Cole. I also really enjoy dramatic autobiographies and memoirs such as Angela’s Ashes, Call the Midwife and the Martha Long series, particularly those that are set in the 1960’s and 1970’s inner city areas. I am also an avid reader of books about self-discovery, positive parenting and the power of humanity, such as Constance Hall’s Like a Queen, Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford and Glennon Doyle Melton’s Carry on Warrior and the sequel Love Warrior.
I thoroughly enjoyed Room, as a mother of a five-year-old I could put myself in Ma’s shoes and imagine what was going through her head, and her motives for her behaviour and actions. I could empathise with her throughout the story, and I was drawn into the book through my ability to understand what Ma was going through. The book is very well written, Donoghue teases the background out through the thoughts and interactions of Jack, which keeps the reader engaged and eager to find out more. Telling the story from Jack’s perspective is really effective as it allows the reader to understand the heinous nature of the plot without the author having to put those words into print. I would imagine that telling the story from Ma’s perspective might make it a lot more difficult for some people to read, as it would be much more harrowing. Room was different to most other books in one aspect: the suspenseful climax of the book, the escape scene, is in the middle of the story rather than towards the end. However, this did not hinder the story in any way, in fact it made the rest of the book interesting as the reader is kept wondering if there will be another suspenseful incident.
I have recommended Room to others many times since first reading it, as it is a gripping and suspenseful novel with characters that are easy to relate to. The book was inspired by the Fritzl case, which adds to the appeal of the book, as the reader can get a glimpse into what life must have been like for Elisabeth Fritzl, and this can also be applied to the abduction and captivity of Amanda Berry, along with Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, another case that received global attention in recent years. Whilst Room is fictional, it is easy to see how the plot is plausible in real life, which enhances the reader’s experience in reading Room.
I would not say that Room has had any impact on my habits as a reader, as I have always been an avid reader previously, and this would have continued regardless. I am generally open to trying new genres, and will at least try to get into any book if it has been recommended to me, so Room has not introduced me to anything new per se. However, I had not expected to find a fictional book on the reading list for university, unless it was to analyse the author’s writing style and use of plot etc., the kind of analysis I would expect to see in a high school curriculum. So I was surprised to learn that Room was a core text for the Literacy for Understanding module, and curious to see how it would relate to the content of the module. I thought it was a very effective way to show the various aspects of language development in children, and also the impact that supportive adults can have on a child’s communication skills.
