I know that Frog Music is Donoghue's 8th novel, but I read her works not in chronological order, and I first knew about Emma Donoghue was in 2010 - when Room was first published. I was totally in love with Room and still I do. I also read Astray and really disappointed because I had so much expectations. I was hesitant to buy Frog Music and it took me more than one year to finally bought it since it first published, and I like it. It's not as beautifully written as Room, neither has magical works on me as I'm a bit disappointed on this as well. Whoever has read Room will probably has really big expectations about Donoghue's follow up work after it, and Frog Music came to us four years after Room; it's something inevitable if not all Donoghue's readers will be pleased with Frog Music, and it's not her first historical fiction after all. She has Slammerkin on her belt, as her historical fiction, long before Room and Frog Music existed. I still like it because it has similarities with Room in some issues, i.e it's also based on true story, and there's also parenthood issue - one of the issues I concern the most.