Q&A prior to the screening of ROOM
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Room was inspired by\\u2026 having kids; the locked room is a metaphor for the claustrophobic, tender bond of parenthood. I borrowed observations, jokes, kid grammar and whole dialogues from our son Finn, who was five while I was writing it. Room was also inspired by... ancient folk motifs of walled-up virgins who give birth (e.g. Rapunzel), often to heroes (e.g. Dana\\xeb and Perseus).\\xa0 Room was also inspired by\\u2026 the Fritzl family\\u2019s escape from their dungeon in Austria \\u2013 though I doubt I\\u2019ll ever use contemporary headlines as a launching point again, since I didn\\u2019t like being even occasionally accused of \\u2018exploitation\\u2019 or tagged \\u2018Fritzl writer\\u2019.\\xa0 But on the whole, publishing my seventh novel \\u2013 and having the great good fortune to win new readers all over the world \\u2013 has been a delight.
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