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Room 11
After an accident leaves a woman in a coma, her husband sits on a hospital chair day-in day-out singing to her. Nobody can pull him away from her as she threads through the dreams that could save her. Meanwhile, a delusional nurse grows her admiration for him into obsessive desire. A dual narrative by broken heroines winding between desire, anger and forgiveness, to help them re-emerge from their separate tragedies.
170 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 9, 2017
22 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
mari reiza
13 books15 followersmari.reiza was born in Madrid in 1973. She has worked as an investment research writer and management consultant for twenty years in London. She studied at Oxford University and lives off Portobello Road with her husband and child.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 17, 2019
Room 11 by Mari Reiza.
The story plot is quite different and the writing style as well. It's something I am not used to and hence it took a good amount of time to complete.
That being said, the concept/ plot is interesting. It is narrated from the viewpoints of two different women. The old women is in coma, lying on the bed in Room 11. His husband, who isn't ready to accept the death of his wife, attends her every single day. He brings her flowers, sings her songs, takes care of each details - from nails to hair.
The dedication of the man to his wife moves the nurse in the room so much that she starts desiring the man. She gets much obsessed with the man and finds even his small actions as acts of love towards herself.
There are a lot of emotions. And like I said, because the writing style didn't suit me I had put down the book multiple times.
The plot is definitely new and hence I would recommend you to read it!
The story plot is quite different and the writing style as well. It's something I am not used to and hence it took a good amount of time to complete.
That being said, the concept/ plot is interesting. It is narrated from the viewpoints of two different women. The old women is in coma, lying on the bed in Room 11. His husband, who isn't ready to accept the death of his wife, attends her every single day. He brings her flowers, sings her songs, takes care of each details - from nails to hair.
The dedication of the man to his wife moves the nurse in the room so much that she starts desiring the man. She gets much obsessed with the man and finds even his small actions as acts of love towards herself.
There are a lot of emotions. And like I said, because the writing style didn't suit me I had put down the book multiple times.
The plot is definitely new and hence I would recommend you to read it!
April 25, 2019
Soooo I did not realize that the Dreaming woman and the Comatose wife from Room 11 were the same until the end.... I took them as 2 different stories. 2 interesting but unrelated stories. I was a bit shocked when they intersected, and had to go back and re-read some passages. What a sad story for the nurse and the wife, but I feel their stories were very well written. I did not understand or enjoy all of the erotic dreams with the Greek gods (skipped the lot of them), but that probably reflected what was happening to the wife in real time (physically) with her husband? Wow... I do understand the nurse''s emotions and imagination completely running away with her. I have had acquaintances in life that had no idea that that guy, who was soooo in love with them, had no idea they even existed. It's not much of a stretch to believe the nurse's dilusional jump. I am happy for her that there is realism and healing for all at the end of the story.
March 22, 2017
Whoa!
I love to try new writers all the time. So when I saw the title it intrigued me.
I am not going to go over the plot again. I am going to say you need to read this book.
I love to try new writers all the time. So when I saw the title it intrigued me.
I am not going to go over the plot again. I am going to say you need to read this book.
March 28, 2019
A read fraught with ambiguity, Room 11 reflects an unconventional style of writing that may not be every reader’s cup of tea. Now when I say that, I mean that while some may take an instant liking to the style of writing, there may be many others who may find it quite tedious. For me what worked was the plot, and what did not work was the style. It was monotonous thereby compelling me to put the book down several times.
Coming to the story-line. I must admit that it is a promising one. Here author Mari Reiza explores the different faces of love. Narrated by two women a nurse from Ghana and a woman deep in coma, Room 11 sees a lot of activity both on the mental and physical front. Here emotions take the forefront while logic often takes a backseat. Not ready to take his wife as good as dead, a man sits by her side day –in, day-out, singing and attending to every little detail of her well-being right from taking care of her hair to her nails. Impressed by his devotion, the Ghanaian nurse allotted to Room 11 slowly relives her past and finds herself drawn to the man. Her obsession with him reaches a point where she searches for signs of love in every little action of his, be it a smile or a caring pat on the shoulder. While the seasons change outside and hope is slowly giving way to other emotions, the woman deep in coma struggles in another world, a world where frustration encases her. Here three different worlds collide with each other in one way or the other sending the affected reeling through a storm of emotions laden with hope, anger, delusion, obsession, guilt, sacrifice, resignation and eventually forgiveness. Finally when the storm settles down, each re-emerges stronger from their separate tragedies.
VERDICT
A book with a promising plot, that could do with a re- look in terms of style to keep the reader hooked.
Coming to the story-line. I must admit that it is a promising one. Here author Mari Reiza explores the different faces of love. Narrated by two women a nurse from Ghana and a woman deep in coma, Room 11 sees a lot of activity both on the mental and physical front. Here emotions take the forefront while logic often takes a backseat. Not ready to take his wife as good as dead, a man sits by her side day –in, day-out, singing and attending to every little detail of her well-being right from taking care of her hair to her nails. Impressed by his devotion, the Ghanaian nurse allotted to Room 11 slowly relives her past and finds herself drawn to the man. Her obsession with him reaches a point where she searches for signs of love in every little action of his, be it a smile or a caring pat on the shoulder. While the seasons change outside and hope is slowly giving way to other emotions, the woman deep in coma struggles in another world, a world where frustration encases her. Here three different worlds collide with each other in one way or the other sending the affected reeling through a storm of emotions laden with hope, anger, delusion, obsession, guilt, sacrifice, resignation and eventually forgiveness. Finally when the storm settles down, each re-emerges stronger from their separate tragedies.
VERDICT
A book with a promising plot, that could do with a re- look in terms of style to keep the reader hooked.
April 11, 2019
Ambiguous, sexualized, irrational (the nurse), wandering mind of a coma patient-these are the words I would say describe Room 11 by Mari Reiza. First three chapters I enjoyed the book. It has potential, it drew me in. Then, the nurse goes all stalker over the singing husband and the comatose wife has sexual dreams about Greek Gods and I grow weary of the whole story. The ending comes and I enjoy it again. I admire the writing of Ms. Reiza in many places it was brave, brilliant and beautiful, however there were so many places that didn’t need the sex, the dream of sex, or the dread of sex between the nurse and her doctor. It just took away from the story. The only interesting part of the story was the husband, his undying love and the inevitability of months worth of emotional stress where he looses hope over his wife becoming whole again. That part of Room 11 felt real. The other characters felt exaggerated and fake. For example the nurse: what woman is so desperate that she automatically assumes a grieving man would whisk her away from her misery within a few weeks of his visitations of his comatose wife?
Of course the Comatose patient - the wife, we will never know what she would be exactly thinking or how she feels, but a lot of her dreams just didn’t feel right. Her family anger, her heartache of an empty womb, those things felt real. The rest, not so much. The emotional toll on patient and husband was brilliant. They were the bright sections. The nurse, her background story in Ghana could’ve been built upon more and it would’ve made her feel less desperate, less fake, less like a filler.
I’m sorry I just didn’t really dig this book. Thanks to Maria Reiza for the chance to read her book in lieu of my honest opinion.
Of course the Comatose patient - the wife, we will never know what she would be exactly thinking or how she feels, but a lot of her dreams just didn’t feel right. Her family anger, her heartache of an empty womb, those things felt real. The rest, not so much. The emotional toll on patient and husband was brilliant. They were the bright sections. The nurse, her background story in Ghana could’ve been built upon more and it would’ve made her feel less desperate, less fake, less like a filler.
I’m sorry I just didn’t really dig this book. Thanks to Maria Reiza for the chance to read her book in lieu of my honest opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2019
Unique telling of what’s going on around and with a coma patient but so much more.
Told from the viewpoints of two different women, this novel chronicles an accident victim’s sojourn in a nursing facility while in a coma (and so much more!) Although the woman’s family quickly gives up hope of her recovery, her husband stays by her side caring for her, singing and talking to her throughout the day (and night), for months. He is assisted in his watch by a nurse assigned to the room his wife where his wife lays, an immigrant from Ghana who is still adjusting to her life far from her home and her tragic past. It is her voice that starts us out and tells us what has happened to the patient, about her care and the husband’s constant vigil. As she recounts her interaction with the couple, we see her slowly developing a disturbing obsession for the husband and building a relationship with him - in her mind.
This woman’s narrative is offset with what the comatose wife is “dreaming” as the days slip by. Those dreams fill us in on the relationship between the husband and wife, the wife and her family, and the events and circumstances that preceded the accident that put her in the coma. While the husband sings to his wife, she dreams that he is sleeping in a hotel room her keeping her “awake” with his snoring.What a great and inventive story! The plotline of the nurse’s growing infatuation with the husband is intense, creepy, and moving. The glimpses into her day-to-day life as an immigrant are very interesting. The wife’s grief over the loss of a child was tragic and emotion-filled. I found myself longing for the wife to recover especially as the husband slowly, but inevitably, begins to lose hope.
In both instances, the nurse and the patient, the narrative pours forth in a ‘stream of consciousness’ style of writing so we’re getting every thought and feeling, which are sometimes frankly intimate or sexual in nature, that passes through each woman’s mind. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I felt it appropriate, and liked it.I recommend this book for readers of contemporary fiction, medical stories with romance, and those that don’t mind storylines with some pretty earthy passages.
May 9, 2020
Reiza returns with a fascinating story of two women, both broken and connected by their mental anguish.
The world of Sofia, a comma patient, is small, full of agony, and confined to a hospital room where her husband stays with her day-in-day-out. There are delusions, anguish, hope, fear, and anger as Sofia’s mind goes through a revealing journey while she stays unconscious in her bed. Meanwhile, a delusional nurse becomes obsessed with Sofia’s husband. The two women reemerge from their brokenness through their respective reflective journeys.
Sofia lives a privileged life and has love, the nurse does not. Yet it is the nurse and her desires and dreams that drive the narrative. Reiza beautifully portrays her journey who after months of delusions, doubt, anger, fury, and desperation, finally comes to term with her past trauma.
Though occasionally tedious, this smart and poignant novel beautifully conveys the resilience of two complex women.
Intelligent and darkly emotive.
The world of Sofia, a comma patient, is small, full of agony, and confined to a hospital room where her husband stays with her day-in-day-out. There are delusions, anguish, hope, fear, and anger as Sofia’s mind goes through a revealing journey while she stays unconscious in her bed. Meanwhile, a delusional nurse becomes obsessed with Sofia’s husband. The two women reemerge from their brokenness through their respective reflective journeys.
Sofia lives a privileged life and has love, the nurse does not. Yet it is the nurse and her desires and dreams that drive the narrative. Reiza beautifully portrays her journey who after months of delusions, doubt, anger, fury, and desperation, finally comes to term with her past trauma.
Though occasionally tedious, this smart and poignant novel beautifully conveys the resilience of two complex women.
Intelligent and darkly emotive.
June 25, 2017
Wow ... I'm not even entirely sure I understand what just happened. I kept feeling like it was one of those books that was going to lead up to some amazing apex .... some great thing happening to make all of these strange things fit together ... and it didn't. I kept reading waiting for it to all come together and it just never did. Not impressed.
December 12, 2017
Very weird and boring
The book blurb sounded promising. It lied.
I found it hard to complete this book because I kept falling asleep.
I started skipping forward after 50%, and finally finished the book. I STILL am completely confused as to the point of this book.
Total disappointment. Not worth the time I wasted reading it.
The book blurb sounded promising. It lied.
I found it hard to complete this book because I kept falling asleep.
I started skipping forward after 50%, and finally finished the book. I STILL am completely confused as to the point of this book.
Total disappointment. Not worth the time I wasted reading it.
April 27, 2017
Room 11
A Man Sits Singing Where a Woman Lies Dreaming
Mari Reiza
Room 11 is a compelling fantasy anchored in a crucial real-world situation. It's a story you wish never to have to tell about anyone you love, encompassing the imaginings of that loved one lost in a sea of suffering.
The man in Room 11 is watching over his wife who lies in a hospital bed, comatose after an accident. Each day he visits, and each time he visits, he sings. His songs range from romantic to jolly to pleading as he sees her slowly fading, it seems, from his grasp. He is observed, sharply and with salacious interest, by a nurse, a strong vibrant woman from Ghana. She begins by wishing the best for the patient and the singing man, and gradually begins to believe that the man has fallen for her, even fantasizing (or plotting?) the worst: that the wife will die…that she will kill her…that she and he will kill her together.
Throughout the man's visits (he has forbidden other relatives to come to see his wife) and the nurse's increasingly aggressive speculations about an outcome, the woman dreams. She dreams of times past, and in her mind, she and her husband and others take on mythic proportions, become gods and goddesses, as she tries to rationalize her barrenness, her longings, her failures and her hopes.
New author Mari Reiza is Spanish, living and working in London in the highly nonfictional world of investment research. She brings her considerable gifts for the language of her adopted home to bear in this well conceived and concocted novel. In Room 11 she manages to convey the feelings the three main characters who occupy, for much of every day, the same physical space but remain immeasurably distant in their separate visualizations. Not many writers could carry this off, and for a first novel, it is a remarkable feat.
There are many reasons why this novel could and should gain traction: it is skillfully written; it has an overarching story that many of us can identify with, something we have either encountered or feared encountering in real life; despite its rather eerie scenario, it has moments of humor and of simple human feeling; it has three disparate protagonists all seeming at cross purposes, yet each with compelling motivations; and the ending, when it comes, is welcome and satisfying.
Mari Reiza is a writer to read and watch, and Room 11 is a book to read and enjoy.
A Man Sits Singing Where a Woman Lies Dreaming
Mari Reiza
Room 11 is a compelling fantasy anchored in a crucial real-world situation. It's a story you wish never to have to tell about anyone you love, encompassing the imaginings of that loved one lost in a sea of suffering.
The man in Room 11 is watching over his wife who lies in a hospital bed, comatose after an accident. Each day he visits, and each time he visits, he sings. His songs range from romantic to jolly to pleading as he sees her slowly fading, it seems, from his grasp. He is observed, sharply and with salacious interest, by a nurse, a strong vibrant woman from Ghana. She begins by wishing the best for the patient and the singing man, and gradually begins to believe that the man has fallen for her, even fantasizing (or plotting?) the worst: that the wife will die…that she will kill her…that she and he will kill her together.
Throughout the man's visits (he has forbidden other relatives to come to see his wife) and the nurse's increasingly aggressive speculations about an outcome, the woman dreams. She dreams of times past, and in her mind, she and her husband and others take on mythic proportions, become gods and goddesses, as she tries to rationalize her barrenness, her longings, her failures and her hopes.
New author Mari Reiza is Spanish, living and working in London in the highly nonfictional world of investment research. She brings her considerable gifts for the language of her adopted home to bear in this well conceived and concocted novel. In Room 11 she manages to convey the feelings the three main characters who occupy, for much of every day, the same physical space but remain immeasurably distant in their separate visualizations. Not many writers could carry this off, and for a first novel, it is a remarkable feat.
There are many reasons why this novel could and should gain traction: it is skillfully written; it has an overarching story that many of us can identify with, something we have either encountered or feared encountering in real life; despite its rather eerie scenario, it has moments of humor and of simple human feeling; it has three disparate protagonists all seeming at cross purposes, yet each with compelling motivations; and the ending, when it comes, is welcome and satisfying.
Mari Reiza is a writer to read and watch, and Room 11 is a book to read and enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews