Ma and five-year old Jack seem to have a typical life together . . .they watch t.v., play word games, read books, tell stories, sing songs.  Except for one huge difference.  Ma and Jack are being held captive together in an 11 foot by 11 foot room where they live day after day.   Ma was kidnapped when she was 19 years old and has been imprisoned in a garden shed for 7 years and she is doing her best to craft a normal life for her son, Jack despite the horrible conditions.  Room is the only world Jack has ever known and when this world suddenly expands for both Ma and Jack they must learn what freedom really means and how to live in the outside world.  Despite the disturbing premise of this book, it is a great book.  The narration is told from Jack's viewpoint and the five year old voice gives the novel a very different and interesting perspective than if it were told from Ma's viewpoint.  This book is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. 

Evie Nicholson is an antiques appaiser who loves looking into the past.  She is called to Kettlesheer castle to appraise a castle full of artifacts and family heirlooms.  While there she meets Robert, the son of the current owner.  The relationship between Robert and Evie progresses along as friends . . .maybe more . . . as she learns more and more from the past. 

As a follower of Matt Logelin's blog, I was anticipating the release of this book and I devoured it in one day.  This book is an emotional memoir chronicling the first year after the tragic death of Matt's wife, Liz.  As Matt explains, on March 22, 2008 his daughter Madeline came into this world and the next day, her mother, Liz left it after suffering a pulmonary embolism.  He experienced the best joy in the world, and the worst tragedy all in 27 hours.  To deal with his grief and struggles of new single fatherhood, he turned to the blogging world.  He was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity he found among internet friends who reached out to help him and Maddy.  This book is an honest and heart wrenching look at loss and grief.  But, it is also a love story from a father to his daughter.  Matt admits that the only thing that got him out of bed in the mornings was knowing that his daughter Maddy needed him and was depending on him.  This book is also a tribute to his love for Liz.  What a wonderful tribute it is.

This is a highly recommended debut novel by Kate Racculia.  But, it is difficult to classify:  this is part coming of age story, part romance, part mystery, and  part literary women's fiction.  Lost in grief after his wife's death, Arthur follows a postcard he finds in a shoebox of his wife's keepsakes.  The postcard is addressed to a boardinghouse in New York.  There he finds Mona, the owner of the boardinghouse and her daughter.  From there all three learn more about each other and about life.