'Room' - Emma Donoghue

Horrifying at times, and often uncomfortable to read, 'Room' is a story of imprisonment that eventually makes one appreciate the scale and complexities of the world we live in.

Jack is a five yr-old boy who has lived his whole life in a 12ft by 12ft garden shed. The only person he has ever spoken to is his mother, although he occasionally catches glimpses of their captor - a middle-aged man who arrives most nights to rape Jack's mother, occasionally bring supplies and take out the garbage. Jack's mother has created the most balanced world possible for her son, inventing activities to pass time and providing loving care, but has avoided explaining that a world exists outside the garden shed (and the television).

Jack narrates the story, allowing us to follow his emotions, keep track of his tantrums, and appreciate how the limited life that he knows is enough for him to be content. This is a life of stability and routine, the only fear being 'Old Nick's visits after dark. With Jack's boundaries being limited for his whole life, the revelation one day that there is a world beyond the walls of 'Room' - with 'real' people that interact with each other - is shocking and hard for him to take in.

Later in the book, Jack meets this outside world, with the difficulties it brings and its requirement for social interaction (an entirely new concept). His dealings with others are awkward to read, and his occasional musings that life in 'Room' may have actually been preferable horrify his mother. For her the prison brings nothing but terrible memories. Jack is portrayed as a freak by the media 'vultures', but - unable to climb stairs, never having had his hair cut and still breast-feeding at 5 - his innocence is affecting, and his introduction to new people and to society as a whole is not a smooth affair.

This is a powerful book. The characters are excellent, particularly the mother, of whom I have written little. There is a quotation on the front cover of my copy, advising the reader to finish the book in one sitting. I did so, and barely saw the time pass. Donoghue's creation of the 'Room' is a dank, depressing place, but Jack's eyes see it with happiness, brushing its horrors under the carpet. Outside the world is normal, but as we discover it with Jack it becomes a complex, busy and noisy maze. The book left me considering quite how much we take for granted around us, and quite how horrific it would be to lose it all.