Room

Starred review from October 25, 2010
Five-year-old Jack and his Ma live and eat and play and sleep in one room—an 11×11-foot space that is their prison—captives of the terrifying man Jack calls Old Nick. But as Jack grows older and more curious, it becomes clear that the room will not be able to hold him and Ma forever. Michal Friedman shines as Jack; her narration is haunting and compelling in its every inflection and tone. The voice she creates for Jack is so convincing, listeners may even mistake her for an actual child. Her powerful performance is complemented by Robert Petcoff's sinister Old Nick, and Ellen Archer's portrayal of resourceful Ma, whose gentle voice is infused with patience, terror, and hope. The chemistry between the players creates a gem of an audiobook that will haunt listeners long after the story's end. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, July 12).

Starred review from July 12, 2010
At the start of Donoghue's powerful new novel, narrator Jack and his mother, who was kidnapped seven years earlier when she was a 19-year-old college student, celebrate his fifth birthday. They live in a tiny, 11-foot-square soundproofed cell in a converted shed in the kidnapper's yard. The sociopath, whom Jack has dubbed Old Nick, visits at night, grudgingly doling out food and supplies. Seen entirely through Jack's eyes and childlike perceptions, the developments in this novel—there are enough plot twists to provide a dramatic arc of breathtaking suspense—are astonishing. Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful, creating exercise games, makeshift toys, and reading and math lessons to fill their days. And while Donoghue (Slammerkin) brilliantly portrays the psyche of a child raised in captivity, the story's intensity cranks up dramatically when, halfway through the novel and after a nail-biting escape attempt, Jack is introduced to the outside world. While there have been several true-life stories of women and children held captive, little has been written about the pain of re-entry, and Donoghue's bravado in investigating that potentially terrifying transformation grants the novel a frightening resonance that will keep readers rapt.

Meet Jack. He's 5 today, and he celebrates with Ma in Room, where he has lived his entire life. This harrowing tale of long-term captivity and its effects is narrated flawlessly by Michal Friedman and Ellen Archer, who voice Jack and Ma with depth and feeling. The two additional narrators, Robert Petkoff and Suzanne Toren, deliver perfectly nuanced supporting characters. Told from Jack's perspective, the story recounts his and Ma's days in Room, where they're held hostage by Old Nick, and the planning of their Great Escape. Once it happens, however, assimilation into life outside proves to be less seamless than Ma anticipated. Friedman's Jack is winsome, lovable, and thoroughly credible. Expressing a 5-year-old's emotions amid subject matter like this is an enormous undertaking, and Friedman delivers. K.M.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 1, 2011

Five-year-old Jack lives with his mother ("Ma") in a small room ("Room"), where they've been imprisoned since her abduction by a stranger ("Old Nick") seven years earlier. Within Room, Ma creates for Jack a loving universe to help him thrive and shield him from the reality of their situation. As Jack describes the rhythm of his and Ma's days, the listener is drawn with terrible dread into that tiny space--e.g., Wardrobe, where Jack sleeps, and Skylight, their only source of natural light. Michael Friedman, voicing Jack, perfectly renders a five-year-old in expression and pace, and Ellen Archer's portrayal of Ma, too, adds depth and immediacy. Robert Petkoff sinisterly renders Old Nick, while Suzanne Toren chimes in to narrate the other characters the pair encounter along their way to a different life. Rife fodder for writing classes and book clubs, Donoghue's (www.emmadonoghue.com) disturbing but powerful tale is especially compelling in its depiction of the extraordinary courage and love of its two central characters. Highly recommended. [A 2011 Audie Award nominee; the Alex Award-winning Little, Brown hc was a 2010 LJ Best Book and also received a starred review, LJ 8/10.--Ed.]--Barbara Valle, El Paso P.L., TX

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