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China Room

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China Room

By: Sunjeev Sahota
Narrated by: Indira Varma, Antonio Aakeel
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021

A multigenerational novel of love, oppression, trauma and the pursuit of freedom, inspired in part by the author's own family history, China Room twines together the stories of a woman and a man separated by more than half a century but united by blood.

Mehar, a young bride in rural 1929 Punjab, is trying to discover the identity of her new husband. She and her sisters-in-law, married to three brothers in a single ceremony, spend their days hard at work in the family's 'china room', sequestered from contact with the men. When Mehar develops a theory as to which of them is hers, a passion is ignited that will put more than one life at risk.

Spiralling around Mehar's story is that of a young man who in 1999 travels from England to the now-deserted farm, its 'china room' locked and barred. In enforced flight from the traumas of his adolescence - his experiences of addiction, racism, and estrangement from the culture of his birth - he spends a summer in painful contemplation and recovery, before finally finding the strength to return 'home'.

© Sunjeev Sahota 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Political Romance World Literature Heartfelt China

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Critic reviews

Sunjeev Sahota's writing is the stuff of miracles. Emotional and heartrending, China Room juggles questions of love, debt, and what it means to build a home alongside the history that carries us. China Room is a propulsive dream, intricately wrought, and Sahota is a maestro. (Bryan Washington, author of LOT and MEMORIAL)
China Room is a rare novel that makes you pause in its beauty. (Francesca Carington)
Sahota is a truly original novelist, his prose sparingly precise in its beauty, steeped in kindness and deep humanity. (Ruth Scurr)
With poise, restraint and deep intelligence, Sahota feeds us big, difficult themes - segregation and freedom, revolution and empire - in a form that is unsweetened, fresh and nourishing. Surely this, his third novel, will propel him up the shortlists to the prizewinning status he deserves. (Melissa Katsoulis)
An extraordinarily gifted writer... Sahota's ability to shine a phrase is not bought for the usual steep formalist price, at the expense of simplicity, intimate feeling, and solid representation. He's both camera and painter, in a literary world that often separates those novelistic tasks. (James Wood)
Sahota combines great writing with amazing storytelling... his books are intelligent and beautifully written and very poised but also incredibly immersive, gripping and very moving. An epic in miniature, China Room is the kind of novel that reminds you why you fell in love with reading in the first place. (Open Book)
Novels this good are rare. (Anthony Cummins)
Sahota's prose is a finely modulated instrument that moves from subtle minutiae to cosmic magnitude... Exhibiting the narrative control and psychological acuity of Rohinton Mistry and Jhumpa Lahiri, Sahota's tale of trans-generational trauma is quietly devastating. (Madeleine Feeny)
Sahota's beautifully crafted novel dovetails two stories from different eras... Both characters are prisoners of circumstances but, in their hunger for redemption, become emblematic of the human condition. (Max Davidson)

Such a thrilling combination of beauty and heartbreak. It's breathtaking.

(Charlotte Mendelson, author of ALMOST ENGLISH)
All stars
Most relevant
About a time I don’t know about- 3 women who get married to 3 men in one ceremony and don’t know which they are married to. An affair ensues with consequences. I found it a bit tedious at times but the story speeds up in the second half.

Unusual story

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Both the tales in this dual timeline novel are well narrated and quick to draw in the listener, though I feel that the earlier story of three brides for three brothers is the more compelling; from early on there is an atmosphere of foreboding in this tale, making it difficult to stop listening. The first section of the later story (signalled clearly by a different narrator) came as a surprise and actually made me want to know about the three women's lives all the more - in spite of the fact that the late 20th century timeline has its own different ways of engaging the listener. (This may have been Sunjeev Sahita's intention, since, of necessity, the characterisation of much of 1929 branch of the story is not as developed as in the other plotline.)

I enjoyed the description of life in India in both 1929 and 1999 and appreciated the common themes of a need for equality between different groups in society and the desire for individuals to chose their own partners, whether on a long or short term basis. All of this makes for a very positive listen, although I felt that the issues raised were touched on rather than explored - but perhaps a light touch, leaving the listener to ponder as much or as little as they wish, is as valid an approach as any other. However, as I approached the end of the novel, I realised that there was quite a lot to be resolved in both plotlines in a short listening time. This meant I wasn't too surprised to be confronted by two endings that (to me, at least) seemed rather rushed.
Overall 4.5 stars

Compelling, but rushed at the end

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Storyline was so tragic but imaginable! It also reveals the restraints on women in that culture!

Cheating

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I really enjoyed this book about what happened to a family in the Punjab many years before, and the shockwaves for their descendants years later. Brilliantly written and especially shocking about the position of women in Punjab society. Very well narrated too. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Fabulous and moving

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Sunjeev’s sensitive, accurate account of life in Punjab in the 1930- 40s is an engrossing read. A powerful matriarch and her three sons have their lives take an unexpected turn when the very tradition designed to preserve a fragile honour turns against them. The descendant of this family in the present day returns almost by accident to the place where this drama unfolded giving him meaning and purpose. It is uncomfortable reading about the illiteracy, infanticide and lack of women’s rights in the regions described which are by no means unique in the world. The powerlessness of the female is accepted by almost everyone although that is not the main theme of the novel. Sunjeev conveys these issues with subtlety and the reader is left shocked, moved and yet hopeful.

Another hit for Sunjeev Sahota

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