Room
Emma Donoghue
 The novel begins on the fifth birthday of Jack, who lives with his Ma in Room, a small enclosed space containing a small kitchen, a bathtub, a wardrobe, a bed and a TV set. Since it is all he has ever known, Jack likes living in Room and believes that it constitutes the real world, while everything he sees on TV is completely separate and not real. Jack and his Ma are "looked after" by Old Nick (so called for his satanic traits). He visits Room on most nights (via a door secured with an electric combination lock) to bring food and to go to bed with Ma while Jack sleeps in the wardrobe. Ma tries her best to keep Jack healthy via both physical and mental exercises, keeping a healthy diet, limiting TV watching time, and strict body and oral hygiene. She herself suffers from severe toothaches and has to take painkillers regularly. A week after Jack's birthday, Ma learns that Old Nick has been unemployed for six months. Combined with an incident in which Jack startles Old Nick during the night, causing him to behave violently towards Ma and cut the power in Room for several days, this prompts her to decide that maintaining the status quo is too dangerous. She tells Jack that much of what he sees on TV is part of the real world outside Room, which Jack finds conceptually hard to believe. Ma recalls how she was abducted from college at the age of 19, had another child before Jack (a baby girl), who died at birth because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, and how Old Nick broke Ma's wrist during an unsuccessful escape attempt. She decides that she and Jack have to escape as soon as possible, and that the only workable plan is to simulate Jack's death, that night she demands that Old Nick take Jack to a hospital, because he is "sick", Old Nick refuses, afraid that the boy will inform the authorities about Room, so he leaves, the next night, Ma wraps Jack in their rug, and she convinces Old Nick to dispose of the wrapped body in a remote location, and on the way there have Jack escape and alert the authorities. The plan is executed and works out okay. Jack jumps off the truck a few blocks away from "Room", but Old Nick hears him and chases him up the street, Jack runs to a man named Ajeet,and his dog Raja bites Jack on the finger, Then old Nick catches up to Jack and grabs him by the waist, Ajeet is afraid for Jack so he pretends to call the police, Old Nick releases Jack and runs to his truck and drives away. Then Ajeet really calls the police. The officers quickly realize the seriousness of the case and, despite communication problems, Jack manages to give them enough information to locate Room and free Ma. The two were taken to a mental hospital, where they get medical care and Ma is reunited with her family, not entirely without conflicts. It is revealed that since Ma's abduction, her parents are now divorced, and her older brother is married with a three year-old daughter. Old Nick is found and faces several charges of abduction, rape, and child-endangerment that will likely lead to twenty-five years to life in jail. Jack however, has problems coping with the suddenly much larger world and wants to return to Room. Meanwhile, the case has attracted much attention from the public and the mass media, making it even harder for Jack and his mother to start leading a normal life. After a television interview that ends badly, Ma suffers a mental breakdown and Jack lives with his grandmother for some days. During this time Jack becomes even more confused by his surroundings, including his new extended family. Being separated from Ma is hard on Jack, but he slowly starts to adjust to the many changes in his life. Eventually, Ma and Jack move into an Independent Living residence. Jack gets his own room, and comes to accept the drastic changes in young life. At Jack's request, they go on a last visit to Room where Jack says goodbye to the items that used to make up his world, ending the book on a happy note.