Emma Donoghue's ROOM: Rare Insight Into A Dark Portal.

Have you read Emma Donoghue's book, Room?  If not, you're missing a powerful insight into a dark world.

Donoghue was born in Dublin in 1969, and now lives in London, Ontario.  It takes guts to devote an entire novel to such dark subject matter.  I found that I had to think about reading the book for about a year before I could bring myself to approach it.

To research and write on such a dark situation must be a daunting task.  Yet Donoghue does it formidably well.

In Room, Donoghue explores the world of an abducted teen, now grown, who births a child in captivity.  With the recent headlines regarding Amanda Berry and her daughter, the book couldn't be more timely.

In spite of the grisly subject matter, Donohue writes with an arresting humour, describing the world of the room in the only innocent voice available, that of the child born therein.

Five year old Jack, who was conceived, born and raised in the eleven by eleven foot room, has known no other world, and it is his ingenuous voice that narrates the story.  

Using Jack as a vehicle allows Donoghue to apply humour and show how love can bring hope and purpose even to a person stranded in seemingly hopeless circumstances.

The ending is unexpectedly powerful and moving.  I highly recommend the book, which seems a perfect expression of Hope From a Dark Portal.