“This was an amazing read, notable for the fact that it has been a long time since I've found a work of fiction so compelling that I read the entire 300+ page book in less than a day. The author tells the story from the perspective and voice of the 5 year old character - Jack. Donoghue admits to having overwhelmed herself doing research on kidnap victims, concentration camp survivors, prisoners in solitary confinement, sex trafficking, etc. The reader will immediately think of several high profile cases that could have been the inspiration for this book - but were not. This is solely a work of fiction and is not meant to be a fictional account of a real crime. Jack's mother was abducted when she was 19, from her college campus, and imprisoned in a one-room shed where she bore 2 children and was repeatedly raped by her captor. The book has two distinct parts even though the chapters flow into each other - captivity and post-captivity. This is a stunning work, reminiscent of The Lovely Bones, that will haunt the reader long after it's finished. I would have given this a 5 star rating had the author not so abruptly ended the story, and had Jack's mother ("Ma") not acted so out-of-character near the end.
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TheLibrarian wrote this review Friday, February 22, 2013.
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