Book 39 - The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

Reading date - November 2020

I have this book in hardback and I am only really reading it because I judged it by its cover.  I love the pink colour used, in my mind is it stripper pink because I think this is what a stripper's dressing room in a strip club in Miami would look like.  Even before knowing anything about the book, I thought the Mars Room would be a great name for a strip club.

This book is about incarceration from a female perspective and along with it, the inherent challenges of being an incarcerated mother.  

The book follows Romy Hall and her life through jail.  The book is not a sweeping novel which takes place over years and years, it covers a short period of time and tells the reader of Romy's backstory and how she fares in prison.

Now, I am of a certain age that when I hear the word Romy, I think of Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.  

I liked this book for many reasons, firstly it brings to more general notice a lifestyle that is experienced by a lot of people but not really heard about, so kudos for that.  It is a sad and sombre book but is full of moments which are funny when they're not meant to be.  As I have no experience of the prison system first hand, I can't say how accurate it was but from what I assume it to be like, it seems accurate enough.

Also, the book I read before this was the Secret History by Donna Tartt and in that, Bunny's last name was Corcoran..and that name rears its head here again.  I mean what are the chances of that happening?

I won't say what Romy is in prison for...I'll let you find that out yourself.