The world, as seen through the eyes of five-year-old Jack, is a strange place. There are no trees, no children playing in the park, no sky to look at. His world is a small room with a bed, a TV, a wardrobe where he sleeps every night, his friends (a broken remote, Dora the Explorer, a snake made of clay), and of course, his mother.

Ma is the only person Jack has ever looked up to. Or, to put it simply, she's the only person he has ever looked at. Jack and Ma's life is not what most experience.

Room is the story of a young woman held captive for seven long years in a dungeon shack in a man's backyard. The man, Old Nick, does not want ransom; all he wants is company. He is mentally unstable and seeing people tortured is his hobby. Maybe this is the reason he kidnaps a happy 19-year-old from her college campus and throws her into a secret room in his backyard. The walls are thick, the door is guarded by electronic password security, and there is no outlet except for a single soundproof window in the ceiling.

The torture inflicted on the poor girl resulted in first a still birth and then, two years later, another baby who survives. Room is told from the viewpoint of that boy, Jack. He doesn't know any world outside of this stinky garden shed. Intelligent beyond his years, he believes that Old Nick comes in from outer space. Every night, to make sure that he is not in the vicinity of the brutal Nick, Ma makes Jack sleep in a closet at the far end of room.

It is only when Ma finally tells Jack about her kidnapping and of the existence of an outer world, that he realizes the gravity of their situation. When he sees Ma weeping helplessly, he realizes that they must escape.

Room is all about the cruelties inflicted on a poor family by an sadistic man and how, ­despite the odds, they have the will to survive. When we read about this woman who is considered dead and this young boy whose existence is unknown, who gather the courage to stand up and fight, it gives us strength to overcome obstacles too.