A Room – Inside to Outside

Who’s & How’s of Book?

Book Title: A room

Genre: Psychological Fiction

Author: Emma Donoghue

Number of Pages: 336

I have read lots of books and when it came to writing about the impact one left I can’t miss on my recent read of a few months ago. What a book, beautiful and shocking. The trust shared by a brave young little boy and his mother, the language they speak and understand for each other, and that too confined inside a ROOM of an 11 by 11 feet size for life.

I am talking about… Room by Emma Donoghue

What’s in the Book?

A 5-year-old boy with his 19-year-old mother is locked up in 11 by 11-foot room.

A 19-year-old girl is kidnaped and trapped and repeatedly raped by old Nick who daily visits the ROOM and on his visit, little Jack is safely packed inside a wardrobe. This story is Jack’s point of view, can a 5-year-old have a view, yes of course and that too when he was showcased life in a completely different manner.

How beautifully Ma brings up the kid in a small room with whatever resources she had. He likes to read books, watch TV accessible to only a few channels, play games with his one and only friend his MA. But Jack is different as he has lived his entire life in that room and that is all that he knows.

Above all, The ROOM is the only world he knows, the other world exists only inside the TV or from the window up above the roof. The main objects in the ROOM are the bed, rug, and walls.




The story takes a turn when Ma and Jack come up with a daring plan to escape their prison. Then starts the second half of the book after the escape plan and how little Jack tries to adjust himself to the normal world which is new to him.

First of all, When I had picked this book I was unsure about what this thick book would hold, will it bore out or what, but with every growing day, it was a unique and interesting story to read. As the book advances towards the climax the police revelations of finding his dead sister under the soil…and the love for the rug is heart touching.

Why this Book?

The child narrator through the author’s words is very very strong. A memorable novel for life.

I was not able to keep the book down. It was a shock when I read the page of revelation that the ROOM was a prison. The whole book became visual to me and I was actually imagining the whole scene. Beautiful and shocking combination.

Furthermore, It left a permanent impact on me. To date, I think is it only Ma and Jack in that room or many more like them? I am always thinking of those who are in similar ROOM’s and can’t get out.

A married woman not allowed to go out is in a ROOM,
A lady not allowed to fulfill her ambitions is in a ROOM,
A lady getting raped daily and not breaking her silence is also in a ROOM,
A female employee getting harassed at the workplace but she can’t say it loud out of fear of losing a job is also in a ROOM,
Come out of ROOM bravely is what MAA motivates to all.

“THIS POST IS WRITTEN FOR NOVEMBERSCHILD IN ASSOCIATION WITH KALAMPEDIA – QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE”.