Room

A Novel

By: Emma Donoghue

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren, Ellen Archer, Michal Friedman, Robert Petkoff

The award-winning bestseller that became one of the most talked about and memorable novels of the decade, Room is "utterly gripping...a heart-stopping novel" (San Francisco Chronicle). Held captive for years in a small shed, a woman and her precocious young son finally gain their freedom, and the boy experiences the outside world for the first time.

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.

Amazing characterization / Fabulous reading

This is a really good novel. It is highly plausible. Great detail. The little boy reader is totally awesome and the mother is read by my FAVORITE, Ellen Archer.

Incredible

This book gutted me. So powerful. An absolutely incredible read. highly recommend. Prepare to cry.

ROOM

Savor a fictional story that is as real as the sun. This audio book is an excellent narration that enriches the power of Emma Donogheu’s story.

The beginning of the book places a listener in the mind of a five-year old (Jack) and his mother (Ma), observing a world that seems off-center, almost surreal.

As early chapters unfold, a listener is drawn into a labyrinth of a mother’s fear and loathing. The mother’s fear and loathing is contrasted with the joy and wonder of her young son. The listener is puzzled by how and why that contrast exists. As the cause of the difference in perception becomes clear, the listener begins to admire the strength and wisdom of Ma and the naiveté and precociousness of Jack.

Returning to a normal life after experiencing trauma, whether it is the stress of imprisonment, accident, or war is as harrowing as the trauma itself. Donogheu captures the difficulty of that return. She writes about the fragility that adults like Ma or a war veteran must feel when returning to the work day world. Donogheu shines a bright light on the importance of professional help in recovery.

So so so good!

What made the experience of listening to Room the most enjoyable?

The voice of Jack was just wonderful .

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed and cried through the entire story.

Powerful Story!

The story was very well-done - highly emotional, suspenseful, intriguing. Jack's narration was phenomenal, but at times Ma's tone was indifferent, and Grandma sounded constantly disapproving and rather harsh. Excellent read!