It doesn’t matter at all that Lib is a not a totally reliable narrator – it’s clear, for instance, that her past has not been entirely revealed to us – but she is nevertheless drawn as an intelligent young woman, refreshingly (in this oppressed and superstitious community) atheist, questioning and curious. Which, I’m afraid, is when the problems start. Even so, it takes a plain-speaking young journalist (befriending her in the hope of a scoop) to point out that something truly sinister may be afoot. But as the days pass and her charge’s condition deteriorates, it seems increasingly possible that she may somehow be complicit in whatever damage is being done. In a country where the potato famine is all too recent history and folk insist on sprinkling salt on their porridge to keep the “little people” away, Lib is at first torn between concern, bewilderment and medically trained scepticism. All the ingredients of Room are here, just shaken up and spilled out differently.Īnd the first half is indeed a deliciously creepy gothic cocktail, enticingly set up and chillingly, suspensefully dragged out. So there it all is: a room, a child and an adult thrown into claustrophobic proximity, not to mention an escalating sense of manipulation, jeopardy and possibly abuse. For two weeks, Lib and a local nun will take it in turns to keep a round-the-clock watch, before a verdict is pronounced.
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