The Mars Room (Paperback)

Staff Reviews

Kushner’s new novel is, in a word, devastating. It opens as the main character, Romy Hall, is on the way to prison to serve a life sentence for murder. As much the story of Hall’s life in prison, it’s the story of her past--her childhood on the streets of San Francisco, her experiences as an exotic dancer, and the circumstances surrounding her crime. Kushner writes so convincingly and so effortlessly, with such compassion for people struggling to survive in modern California’s darkest corners, you’d think she has personally lived the life of her main character—and every other character in the book. I can’t recommend this one enough.

Kushner paints a devastating and real portrait of what is means for a woman to be incarcerated in California through a cast of characters that you won’t soon forget. Her writing is direct and unsentimental but will make you feel deeply about the fate of these women (and isn’t that what fiction is all about?).