Room by Emma Donoghue (2010)Read about the other entries on the list.
Donoghue’s story of a young boy called Jack and his resourceful ma, held captive and forced to exist solely in “Room”, is a very different kind of escape novel. Told entirely from the innocent point of view of Jack, who has no experience of the outside world, the escape itself is a gruelling moment as we desperately hope that this confused and vulnerable child will be able to save himself and his mother. But what really makes this novel so distinct is its depiction of the aftermath; there is no immediate fist-in-the-air triumph, but a long and difficult struggle to return to normality after a traumatic event.
--Marshal Zeringue