'60s classic novel, in which unmarried mother-to-be Jane feels she can no longer live at home with her father, and so moves out to the eponymous room - a shabby but cheap bedsit - determined to cope with her pregnancy without relying on friends or family.

I had expected the novel to focus on the story of how Jane copes on her own, encountering and dealing with the prejudices of the day. I.e. I thought it was going to be mostly a social commentary type book. Well it is this, but it's quite a lot more as well. Not only Jane's history (of her life and the affair that led to her becoming pregnant), but also the many characters in the house, and in her professional life (she holds down her job as long as she can in order to save money for the baby).

And so as well as painting a convincing picture of the '60s, with what appear to be very outdated attitudes of morality, class and racial prejudice, there's a good story here of how Jane falls in love with Toby, who lives in a different room in the same house, and what happens when he finds out about her condition.

I really enjoyed the book.

Completed : 10-Nov-2012 (audiobook)