Room

Emma Donoghue 2010

Devastation Rating

Existential Dread
captivity mother child trauma

Our Take

Jack is five. Room is the world. His mother was abducted seven years ago. Donoghue gives the novel to Jack, whose innocence makes the captivity both more bearable and more unbearable to witness. The escape is not the end of the story — the world outside Room is its own kind of damage.

This page contains affiliate links. If you buy a book through one of these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure →