Female prisons are the trendy curiosity with series like Orange is the New Black and Wentworth being so popular. There's no shortage of drama and violence in those series, but fortunately The Mars Room wasn't about that, it's about the characters. It's far more interesting to learn how someone ends up in prison, and this is what author Rachel Kushner does in The Mars Room.
Hardened double lifer Romy Hall is given a perceptive, sharp thinking, creative voice.
She reflects on her years stripping: "These men dimmed my glow. Made me numb to touch, and angry. I gave, and got nothing in exchange, but it was never enough. I extracted from the wallets - which was how I thought of the men, as walking wallets - as much as I possibly could. The knowledge that it was not a fair exchange coated me in a certain film. Something brewed in me over the years I worked in the Mars Room, sitting on laps, deep into this flawed exchange. This thing in me brewed and foamed. And when I directed it - a decision that was never made; instead, instincts took over - that was it."
She calls out double standards: "Did you ever notice that women can seem common while men never do? You won't hear anyone describe a man's appearance as common. The common man means the average man, a typical man, a decent hardworking person of modest dreams and resources. A common woman is a woman who looks cheap. A woman who looks cheap doesn't have to be respected, and so she has a certain value, a certain cheap value."
Her calculated approach when she wanted something from a guard: "But when I saw Hauser, something flipped in me, a switch. I called out a friendly hello. You don't decide to intentionally alter your tone of voice. It happens automatically. Needs ate the gearbox of the voice. Needs shift approach, adjust tone to something higher, more sympathetic. It wasn't calculated, but everything had changed for me since I'd seen him last."
Romy accurately stereotypes public defenders & prosecutors. Public defenders, who arrive late to court with loose papers, have bad posture & hair, ill-fitting suits, wide ties and scuffed shoes. The prosecutors meanwhile, are rich, well rested Republicans, she notes.
About a plumber who was persistent about trying to get with her, her view is pessimistic and realistic. She said she didn't want to be "subjected to his happiness, which seemed to be based on nothing, a thin layer of good cheer stretched over emptiness."
I enjoyed reading Romy reminisce about her childhood, and her thoughts on "where it all began." She's certainly a fascinating character, and her intelligent observations are not quite what I expected at first, and I couldn't wait to hear what happens next. Which makes for an ideal protagonist.
I received The Mars Room in a GoodReads giveaway.
Kara
