Review of Room by Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue's latest novel, Room, has been getting a lot of press, and deservedly so. The book was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

Room is told from the viewpoint of a five-year-old boy named Jack. This would be remarkable on its own. What makes it even more remarkable is that Jack and his mother-- known only as "Ma" throughout the book-- are hidden away in a shed. Ma was kidnapped when she was in college and has been living in one room since that time. Her kidnapper/attacker, Old Nick, regularly shows up to bring food and other necessary items-- and, of course, to rape her. Jack is the product of one such incident, but at age 5, doesn't know that.

Jack and Ma's entire world is in this one room. They are not permitted to go outside. There is no computer or phone. They are entirely dependent on Old Nick for survival, and that puts Ma in an extremely difficult position. She must appease her attacker and care for a young child. She tries to placate Old Nick. She does the best she can with Jack, establishing routines, playing games, teaching him.

Ultimately, Ma and Jack escape from the room and re-enter the outside world. It is startling to Jack, whose only contact with other human beings has been with his mother (Ma, with her strong maternal instincts, hid him away whenever Old Nick appeared). Jack has never seen the sun or ridden in a car or gone to a playground. His entire life has been spent in the confines of this room, which his mother has made as bearable as humanly possible.

Watching Ma re-enter the world is difficult. Watching Jack see the world for the first time is fascinating. How they cope and how they now see the world after such trauma is incredibly interesting.

Just One Pink gives Room a 9.

Review of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

First and foremost, Helen Simonson's novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, is a story of good manners and breeding. Major Ernest Pettigrew, the protagonist, is a proper British gentleman living in a small English village. He is a widower, a retired military man, and the father of a grown son. We meet him right when he is digesting the news of his older brother's death. And as we meet him during this difficult time, we are also introduced to Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper in the village. Mrs. Ali is a widow and has taken over her husband's shop. She and the Major strike up an unlikely friendship that we can see is careening toward love.

But there are all sorts of obstacles in the way, including the Major's greedy son, Roger; Mrs. Ali's semi-fanatic nephew, Abdul Wahid; the gossiping men and women of the small village; the Major's conniving sister-in-law and niece; and a set of highly valuable guns.

Simonson, who grew up in a small village in England, clearly knows of what she writes. She shows the gossipy side of a small town, with everyone butting in on everyone else's business. And she shows how those who are not white are never really considered English and are forever put on the sidelines.

There are some very funny moments in the novel and it is, in the end, a love story between two very different (on the outside) people.

Just One Pink gives Major Pettigrew's Last Stand an 8.