A review by erickibler4
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

5.0

Romy Hall is a young woman imprisoned by poverty and all the expectations surrounding the social class she was born into. Eventually she winds up in prison serving two life sentences. How she got there is a tale told disjointedly and with many digressions into the lives of side characters. Losers, criminals, murderers, and perverts.

Although the book is very dark, there are scenes where even the most soul-numbed of these characters have grace moments.

This book reminds me a lot of the hillbilly noir novels of Donald Ray Pollock. High praise.