A review by blairmahoney
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

4.0

Shortlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize, this is an impressive novel that delves into the grim world of women's prisons in the US. In some ways it's an old-fashioned "social issues" novel and an indictment of the American justice system. Kushner mostly operates in the first person viewpoint of Romy Hall, a stripper who is serving multiple life sentences for killing the man who was stalking her. She is unable to hear from her young son or even know where he is. We also get third person accounts of other characters and even snippets from the journals of the Unabomber. It's compelling and sobering material and very easy to get sucked into.