In Room, a powerful novel by Emma Donoghue, Jack has spent his entire life locked in a shed with his mother, whom a man named Old Nick is keeping as his sexual slave. Through incredible sacrifice and imagination, his mother fashions a life that feels halfway normal to Jack, but as Jack turns five, she can no longer protect him from the horror of their situation, and something has to give. What follows is a rich, detailed portrayal of the relationship between mother and child, complicated and often tense, but full of mutual love and devotion. Donoghue writes from Jack’s perspective and puts a lot of thought into the psychological development of a child who has never left Room or spoken to anyone other than his mother. His struggle to make sense of the worlds in which he finds himself reveals much both about himself and society.