A World All Their Own

We have all seen the headlines...girls held captive for years in sheds and small rooms, forced to be slaves to their captors.  The recent stories were Jaycee Dugard, kidnapped and held in a backyard in California for 18 years, and Elizabeth Fritzl, held by her father in a locked basement dungeon by her father.  Both women had children by their captors.  "Room" is the story of one such child.

Five-year-old Jack lives in the little one-room world that Ma has created for them.  His friends include Dora the Explorer, Plant, and TV, though he only gets to see TV for a little while each day.  Jack and Ma play games, learn new words, and read the few books that they have.  Jack loves Ma and Ma loves Jack.  But one person that Jack doesn't love is Old Nick.  Every night when Jack goes to sleep in the wardrobe, he hopes that Old Nick won't come so that Ma won't be sad again.  Jack doesn't get to see Old Nick, but he knows he's come when he hears the beeps of the opening door and the smell of the air from Outside.

Jack lives happily in this little world, as it's all he has ever known.  When Ma drops a bombshell one day and tells Jack that the world that he sees on TV is really in Outside, he doesn't know what to think.  And when she asks Jack to be very brave and rescue the two of them from Old Nick, Jack is forced to face the big scary world outside of his beloved Room.  At five years old, he could never be ready to deal with the changes that come to his and Ma's life when they enter Outside.

This is one of the most-talked about books of the year, and I completely understand why.  Emma Donoghue made a very hard story bearable by telling it through the innocent voice of a child.  While my heart broke throughout the entire book, first for Ma in her captivity and then for Ma and Jack in their freedom, I also found myself rooting for Jack and hoping that he would find his happiness again in the big new world.  Donoghue did an excellent job of taking these big news stories and putting real human faces to them.  It was also interesting to see how Ma and Jack's story didn't end with the rescue, that is actually just the middle.  Both of them experienced real struggles after they left Room, and these are the struggles that we don't hear about in the news.  The media story stops when the so-called torture ends, but there is still much more for these people to endure.

I had to prepare myself to read this book, thinking that it was going to be emotionally draining.  But Donoghue's method of telling the story through Jack made it much easier to read.  "Room" is worthy of all of the accolades and acclaim it has received, and I recommend it for adults who want to get behind the news stories we've heard so much about.

Defining Love

"Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life.  No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough."

David Levithan views a relationship in a new way in his novel, The Lover's Dictionary.  The relationship is viewed through a series of dictionary entries, with each entry being no more than a page and a half.  As the entries are in alphabetical order, the relationship is not in chronological order.  The reader gets bits and pieces of the relationship's story through the entries and has to piece together the whole picture as they read.

Levithan does a great job of choosing a variety of words and using them in ways that most wouldn't assume to be part of the story.  He writes with sincerity and depth, and it feels as though he has been in these situations before.  The great thing about this book is that he never names the narrators, or even distinguishes which gender they are.  It's up to the reader to determine which entries belong to which narrator, what their genders are, and, therefore, what type of relationship they have.  Levithan is known for writing stories about same-sex relationships, such as "Boy Meets Boy" and "Will Grayson, Will Grayson", so many readers will pick up this book assuming that it will be about the same topic.  However, the ambiguity of the narrators makes this story applicable to everyone, which is pretty ingenious.

I admit that I did assume that this was another Young Adult novel of his, as that is what he is known for.  His past novels include the two mentioned above, as well as "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist".  But this book is definitely NOT for teens.  Not because of inappropriate material (there is none), but simply because teens most likely could not fully identify with the characters and the story.  The maturity level is that of 20- and 30-somethings in terms of the depth of emotion and issues with which the couple deals.

Overall, this was a satisfying read that will be relatable to all readers in one way or another.  I felt the happiness and sorrow of the couple through their journey, and I felt that it was all very realistic.  Recommended for adult readers.

(Photo from Tower Books)

Celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be...

That's the lesson learned by Brooke Alter in Lauren Weisberger's latest novel, Last Night at Chateau Marmont.

Brooke's days may not be perfect, but she enjoys the life she's built with her husband, Julian.  She loves working as a nutritionist for pregnant women and new mothers, and doesn't really mind the second job she's taken on to support her musician husband.  Working as a counselor to teenaged girls at an elite prep school helps her feel even more fulfilled.  Brooke works hard to help her talented husband succeed, but when he actually accomplishes his dream and hits the big time, Brooke finds that it comes with much more than she bargains for.

Julian is suddenly hiring new agents and publicists, flying around the country for weeks on end, and showing up in all of Brooke's favorite tabloid magazines.  As she holds down the fort at home and tries to balance the career she loves with the new demands of her husband's career, Brooke feels pulled in a hundred directions.  She's suddenly forced to make difficult decisions about her life and priorities.  These decisions become even harder to make when she finds out that Julian has made an error of judgement that has landed in the pages of the most widely-read magazine in the country.

This is Weisberger's fourth novel, following The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing, and Chasing Harry Winston.  Having read the former, I felt the latter was pretty on par with the others.  Weisberger is not my favorite chick lit author, yet I always find myself wanting to read her books.  The stories she tells aren't ground-breaking, but there is a familiarity with them that most other authors don't have.  I always get the feeling that she has been around the celebrity scene enough to tell authentic stories.  After all, that's what made her famous.  The Devil Wears Prada was supposedly based on her experience working for one of the major fashion magazine's Editors-in-Chief (rumor was Anna Wintour at Vogue).  This novel is no different.  There are many references to real people, and the processes that Julian experiences in his rise to the top seem very realistic.

What I liked most about this novel, and Weisberger's others, is that her main character is real...the glue that holds our faith in humanity together.  They always figure out how to come back to reality and get what they truly wanted, which usually has nothing to do with the glam lives in which they ended up.  Brooke is no different.  She struggles through the changes in her life, marriage, and husband.  She fights to be able to keep the career she's always wanted.  And in the end, she makes the hard decisions.  While Julian's fame goes to his head, it's not the same for Brooke.  I like how Weisberger showed how instant celebrity affects the "normal civilian".  Privacy?  Gone.  Family?  Hassled.  Friends?  Only the true ones stick around and are worth keeping.  I think a lot of people fantasize about the perks that come with celebrity status but never really consider everything else that comes with the package deal.

One of the funniest things to me about the story was Brooke and Julian's dog.  His name was Walter Alter.  Something about that struck me as humorous and real.  I found that the dog actually made me feel more connected to Brooke, probably because his name was so cute and cheesy...something that I would be likely to choose.  I felt like I could understand her better as a character because I could relate to her in that way.  Weird, I know.

I recommend this book for adults who want a breezy read with emotion.  Great for a vacation, and of course, a great beach read! :)

(Photo from bookfinds.com)