Nothing to do with the Red Planet

With only a few days until the 2019 Booker shortlist is announced, I think it’s fair to say that I’m running a bit behind with my reading, having just finished The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, one of the shortlisted books from last year. I chose this one because of the title, but it’s nothing whatsoever to do with a room full of astrophysicists monitoring the Red Planet. No, the Mars Room in question, is a lap dancing club and previous workplace of 29 year old Romy Hall, about to start two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, California for murdering one of her clients.

The novel opens with Romy and her fellow prisoners being transported to their destination. It’s a powerful scene that introduces us to a number of characters, people she will be spending a lot of time with. Whilst she tries to remain detached from the bizarre, often brutal, events going on around her, the reader can sense her fear. The strength of the writing is apparent from the start, the restraint, the raw uncompromising tone and the occasional rye touches of humour.

But overall it’s bleak, outlining the plight of those that are born into a world of poverty and neglect, lives lived on the margins of criminality. Romy Hall is a woman with no hope. No hope of getting out any time soon and no hope of seeing her son, Jackson. We feel for her plight and yet, she’s not a sympathetic character, nor is she intended to be. During the novel, we’re given glimpses of her past life as a stripper and mother, it’s a story of bad luck and bad choices, in equal measure.

The harsh reality of prison life is expertly portrayed – the constant hustling for bare essentials, the bickering, the boring monotony of routine tasks performed day after day. Frustration ignites into aggression, then violence, over sometimes trivial issues. It’s a place populated by survivors and those less equipped to survive, like the naïve prison educator Gordon Hauser manipulated by many of the inmates, not least Romy herself.

For many reasons it’s not an easy read. It could be argued that there are too many characters. The storyline is haphazard and meandering. The novel jumps between perspectives, between first and third person narratives. Sometimes Romy’s voice gets lost amongst all the detail. I found it difficult to keep track of it at times. The ending is abrupt.

It’s an uncompromising book, but the book that Kushner wanted to write. So if you’re looking for a conventional read with a progressive storyline then don’t read this one. I found it a challenge – but well worth the effort.