A review by georgina_bawden
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
4.0
This was a fantastic book, about the life of a woman serving life in a California prison, but largely focusing on her life in San Francisco, and the lives of others dealing with similar working class poverty. It was compelling and had a host of interesting voices, and was really rooted in a sense of San Francisco.
There was something unfocused about the different narrative threads and when the spotlight slipped from Romy it felt less urgent. The passages seemingly extracted from the diaries of the unabomber were particularly confusing and failed to coalesce for me.
I am particularly keen to read more of Kushner's work after this. I listened to this on audiobook which she narrates herself and really enjoyed it. She has a kind of monotonous, weary voice that felt apt for the character of Romy. I love when authors read their own books.
There was something unfocused about the different narrative threads and when the spotlight slipped from Romy it felt less urgent. The passages seemingly extracted from the diaries of the unabomber were particularly confusing and failed to coalesce for me.
I am particularly keen to read more of Kushner's work after this. I listened to this on audiobook which she narrates herself and really enjoyed it. She has a kind of monotonous, weary voice that felt apt for the character of Romy. I love when authors read their own books.