The White Room

By Austin Shippey

Adrian drives through the snaking roads of California; haunted by memories of childhood trauma which to most would be unthinkable; for the first ten years of his life he faced the white walls of a room his parents entrapped him in without providing education, socialization, or glimpses at the outside world. Throughout three years of rehabilitation he finds himself at peace under the influence of the rising celebrity of himself and his doctors, who he comes to think of as his mothers and fathers, but the abuse doesn't end with his rescue, it is transferred into the hands of a "government" program which transports him to a looming hotel remodeled into a hospital in the cold and dark of an Alaskan winter. The days are dark, the world is cold, and Adrian is tormented by nightmares of a past he can't escape...The White Room is a story about abandonment, cruelty, isolation, and through it all, growth. Speaking to the reader on an almost subliminal level, the depths of The White Room's abundant symbolism beg analysis, and tosses and turns in the mind of the reader who is both unnerved and fascinated by this unique story. "The hum from the road and the car tires turned into a low buzzing of electric fans in the distance, and the streetlights and stars above me began to glow like fluorescent lights. I didn't cry from anything else except for the pure realization of the fact that I never properly experienced a large majority of my life. I didn't feel anything, and knew my mind was slipping into a state I knew so well from my ten years of isolation during childhood. I felt the vast emptiness of white space, of dying cities, of blinding snow, of dust-covered empty rooms, of hibernating trees, of abandoned children, and of lost friends..."What readers are saying:"One of the most horrifying books I've ever read... yet at the same time, one of the most beautiful.""To me this story is ultimately a metaphor for overcoming despair, learning self-love, letting go of the past, and striving toward independence at all costs. This is the kind of book I will reread several times and keep getting more out of. It took me into the story and kept me constantly wanting to read more."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1523739703
• ISBN13: 9781523739707
• Release Date: March 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 227 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.0"