Book Review: Room by Emma Donoghue

In Room, a five-year-old boy and his mother are held captive in an 11 x 11 foot room. 

A few years ago, I walked into my local bookstore. 

The proprietor greeted me--book in hand. "Leanne, you have to read Room."

"What's it about?"

"A mother and her son are held captive in an eleven-by-eleven foot space." Was all I heard her say.

And all I could think was:  How depressing. Do I really need to feed my brain something so heavy?

But I value her opinion. So brought Room home. 

For two years the book haunted me until I finally gave in. I took the book off the shelf, flipped it open and read the first page. 

And what I thought was:  The story is told by a five-year-old boy? What an original narrator. Maybe I should just read the book simply to discover how/if Emma Donoghue pulls it off. 

I tried to keep reading but...

All I could think was:  What if something happens to the little boy? I don't want to read about the victimization of a child. 

Then, one day, curiosity won. I dived back in. I learnt that Jack isn't a victim. And even though hero and survivor are adjectives I would use to describe him I learnt that he wouldn't claim them. Room to me symbolizes fear and confinement--Room to him symbolizes a cozy home, thanks to his courageous mother.  

As I write this I have ten pages left to read--and I don't want to leave Jack. I feel a deep connection to him. He has made me laugh out loud; he has brought me to tears. 

Yes, it is a story about a mother and son confined in a small space. But, oh, it's so much more than that.

Questions I asked myself as I read:  What's my Room? What's my Outside? Why? How can I break free and overcome?

Published by HarperCollins Canada

Published in 2010

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Related articles...

Author Emma Donoghue talks about the book and the movie

The cast of Room talk about the movie

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found this when out on a walk--love it when people hide their art 

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The Difference Between BC and Manitoba Mosquitoes

Leanne Dyck

Book Review: Akin by Emma Donoghue

In this interesting interview, Emma Donoghue talks about Akin. 

Eighty-year-old, newly widowed, newly retired, Noah Selvaggio travels to his hometown Nice, France with an envelope full of mysterious photos and his great-nephew.

Micheal Jerome Young is an impoverished (think of the expanded definition), very America eleven-year-old. What will he think of France?

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Published by HarperCollins Publishers

Published in 2019

It's World War II, you're living in Nice, France. Do you...

A) Work for the Resistance

B) Wait and see what happens--even though it's pretty clear what is happening to your Jewish neighbours

C)Collaborate with the Nazis

It's 2017, during a trip to France you discover evidence that seems to indicate that a beloved relative collaborated with the Nazis. What do you do?

'[A]lthough so many had claimed afterward to have been involved in the Resistance, only around two percent--mainly students and immigrants--had actually committed themselves. Perhaps another eight percent had taken timid steps.' (p. 101)

'And after all, didn't [Noah's] kind manage to ignore today's awful wrongs? Read the paper, shook their heads regretfully, sipped their lattes.' (p. 102)

Emma Donoghue has crafted yet another compelling read. As there are rather long chapters, I'm thankfully for the page breaks.

Things I'd like to ask Emma Donoghue--given the opportunity...

1)I recall an interview in which you said that your son had inspired Room. Did your son inspire this novel as well?

2)Why is Noah so quick to think the worse of his beloved relative with very little evidence when the opposite could be equally as likely?

3)Was writing about Noah's obvious irritation with grammar and other language issues mistakes therapeutic for you?

Here are some questions Emma Donoghue has answered.

Next Sunday evening...




I'll share a short story I wrote recently for this upcoming event... 

Storyteller evening--with music

at the Agricultural Society Hall

on Mayne Island, BC

at 7:30 PM
on Saturday, November 30th

Book review: The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donoghue (middle grade)

Following her popular novels Room (a story told by a 5-year old narrator) and The Wonder (the plot revolves around an 11-year old), Emma Donoghue has written a middle grade (for children ages 9 to 12 years of age) novel.

The chapters are rather long and the novel is jammed-packed with characters but...
The narrator's voice is strong and unique. The plot well-planned. The ending satisfying.

Buy The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donoghue

Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Date published:  2017

Emma Donoghue's author website

The Bobbsey Twins series revolved around two sets of twins (aged 6 to 12 years old). The books were written from 1904 to 1979 and the stories reflect on the time as filtered through family life. The Lotterys Plus One is The Bobbsey Twins for the 21st century. The marginalized (those in the minority) have become the majority. The story comes complete with an angry old white guy.

Two couples--two guys and two women--have a baby, Sic. And, after finding a winning lottery ticket, they don't stop with one. They fill a large house with a ton of children. Sumac (9 years old) the middle child, is the protagonist. Some middle children feel overlooked but not Sumac. She is key to the smooth running of the household--as are all the children. The family is happy and well-adjusted. Enter the angry old white guy.

Message:  The Lotterys Plus One stresses the importance of family--how ever you define it.

'who cares so long as the threads get tied.' (p. 303)

The Next Chapter's interview with Emma Donoghue.

"New Summer cut" Thanks Pooch Parlour photo by LDyck

Next Post:  Sunday, June 4 (published at approximately 5 PM PT)
I comment about a topic near and dear to my heart--dyslexia.

Book review: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Set in Ireland during the 1850s, shortly after the potato famine, The Wonder is historical fiction, a mystery, a love story, and provides social commentary on what it was like to grow up female and poor in Ireland during the 1800s.

Buy The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Publishing date:  2017
Publisher:  Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.
author website 

When word spreads that an 11-year-old girl (Anna O'Donnell) is living on one spoonful of water a day (and mana from heaven) two nurses are sent to bear witness. Sister Michael is an Irish Roman Catholic nun from the order of the Sisters of Mercy (called the walking nuns because they walk out into the world to give service to the sick, the poor and the uneducated). She provides an interesting foil to the protagonist Elizabeth "Lib" Wright--an English protestant.

Foil:  'a character who contrasts with another character--usually the protagonist--in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character.' -Wikipedia

Lib served in the Crimean War under the founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale. And, I think it is fair to say, is prejudice against the Irish--at least at the beginning of the novel. This adds tension to several scenes. 

What drew me to this book?

1. The Wonder was nominated for a Scotiabank Giller Prize (2016)

2. After reading Room (a story narrated by a five-year-old boy), I became a devoted fan of Emma Donoghue

The connection between Rumpelstiltskin and The Wonder

In Rumpelstiltskin, the boast is that a girl can spin straw into gold.

In The Wonder, the claim is that a girl can live on water (mana from heaven) alone.

In Rumpelstiltskin, a girl attempts to guess Rumpelstiltskin's name.

In The Wonder, a girl attempts to guess her nurse's name.

If the idea of fairy tales influencing modern novels intrigues you here's a link to other novels that you may enjoy reading. 

Happy Mother's Day

A song for mom

A mother's work is endless

Joys are far too few

One joy is to see you happy

So smile, darn you

-signed your mother

Next post:  A Writer's Dilemma (a poem about the writing life that was inspired by the children's picture book It Looked Like Split Milk and the rock band The Who's song Who Are You?)

Published:  Sunday, May 21 at approximately 5 PM PT