“The Mars Room”
By Rachel Kushner
Literary Fiction
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
In “The Mars Room,” twice National Book Award–nominated Rachel Kushner depicts the strict absurdities of institutional living in a humorous way. It’s 2003 and Romy Hall is entering the Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility in California to begin two consecutive life sentences. Outside are the city of San Francisco which she came from and her young son Jackson, and inside is her new reality. Her days now consist of thousands of women struggling to survive, and violence by guards and prisoners alike.