Has anyone read anything by Emma Donoghue?

[CurlewKate]

If so-what? And did you like it?

I've only read Room. Loved it.

Haven, didn't like it at all. Didn’t finish it either. Just not my taste.

Yes Room was very good, and the Pull of the Stars set in 1918 flu pandemic also good

I did enjoy Room, although I read it before motherhood (some ten years before actually!) and reread it after having my children. Lockdown made me look at it differently as well. It’s a disturbing read but a powerful one.

I’ve recently finished Haven and thought it was absolutely wonderful- I can’t stop thinking about it. The wild landscape of the bleak skellig & the marginal existence of the 3 monks is brought to life so well.

I read her short story collection Touchy Subjects years ago and some of the stories are quite good, and a few are utterly brilliant. Some of the topics are ones you often see discussed on MN and I think she captures the nuances and different perspectives really well. E.g. there's one about a mother and daughter with different approaches to looking after the first grandchild that I often think of when I read those threads.

I've read Room - very gripping - but didn't watch the film when it came out, as the subject matter is horrific enough in print, and would be even worse on film.

Pull of the Stars is lovely, would defintely recommend.

Has anyone read The Wonder? Or Slammerkin?

I really enjoyed Room (if enjoyed is the right word - I was gripped by it), but I was far less keen on Frog Music, the only other book of hers that I've read.

I thought Room was excellent. She really got into the urge of people to paper over the cracks once the trauma has been unearthed and the perpetrator out of the picture. The extremely messy reality of victims was very well captured in the book.

I’ve read the Wonder twice, the first time I really enjoyed it. Then my book club selected it and I re-read it and I thought it was tedious. Not sure what changed in the interim

I've read Slammerkin. I don't remember very much about it, which I suppose isn't really an endorsement, though it was years ago. I think I thought it was a decent novel but remember thinking at the time that the short stories were better.

Stir-fry. Read it in 1994. Think it was her first novel. Was a coming of age/identity awakening thing, the main character a student at university who falls in love with one of her flatmates. Never read anything else by her.

I really like Emma Donaghue’s novels.
I think I have them all on the bookshelf or Kindle.
I think most of them are worth reading.

Loved The Wonder and The Pull of the Stars.

Yes I have read most of hers and enjoyed all. I am always impressed by how she writes about different eras of history, she certainly doesn't pigeonhole herself in any way. The Wonder was very good and I enjoyed Slammerkin (although it was set in my home town and in our book club we did wonder if she had actually ever visited it as her geography was incorrect!). It was a good read through.

Another one who has only read Room. It was excellent. Like a PP, I read it pre-kids. It would be even harder to read now.

Put off reading Room for ages but really glad I did read it eventually- it's so well written. I also loved The Pull of the Stars - it felt so immersive. I wasn't so keen on The Wonder. I quite enjoyed Akin as well.

I thought The Wonder was excellent, really gripping. The Pull of the Stars was also good. I bought her most recent, The Paris Express, but haven’t read it yet. The reviews aren’t quite as good for that one.

The Pull of the Stars is one of my favourite novels and I recommend it often. I also liked The Wonder and Room, in that order. Akin was pretty good but there have been a couple I couldn't get on with, Haven and Learned by Heart which is about Anne Lister (Gentleman Jack).
I'll seek out the titles mentioned here that I haven't read.

I put Room in the bin, I hated it.

Room and Slammerkin, I loved Slammerkin and Room was alright but I couldn't get on with the child narrating it. Finished it though.

Tried the flu pandemic one and couldn't get into it at all.

Slammerkin is one of my favourite books. The audiobook version is brilliant! I always thought it’d make a great period drama particularly as it’s very loosely based on a true story.

Not heard of slammerkin but I’ve read the others mentioned. I liked them all except haven, and I absolutely loved the pull of the stars

Only read Frog Music which I loved. I was sent it as part of a subscription and had no expectations one way or the other.