The L-Shaped Room (novel) is pregnant. The L-Shaped room is the dingy room at the top of the boarding house that Jane retreats to, to wallow in her miseries. Jane narrates the story as we follow her through her pregnancy and her encounters with the other residents of the boarding house, all misfits and outsiders. Jane got pregnant through a bungled sexual encounter losing her virginity to her ex-boyfriend. Her decision to live by herself and have the baby causes her to be seen as little better than the prostitutes who live in the basement of the boarding house. The L-Shaped Room (novel) The
The Cutting Room (novel) pornography that appears to document the death of a mysterious young woman. Starting with local pornography trade contacts, Rilke sets out to discover this woman's identity and uncover the story behind her appearance in the disturbing photographs. The novel received a highly positive reception from critics. "The Guardian" described it as a "gleefully black, knowing first novel", also noting that it "effortlessly glides [from a detective novel] into literary fiction". For "The Independent", the novel presented a "hugely commendable debut, assured and memorable" and "a genuinely creepy, grisly little tale". "The Sunday Times" described The Cutting Room as: "one of