In Sunjeev Sahota's China Room, a tale unfolds in rural Punjab, 1929, where Mehar, a not-so-obedient fifteen-year-old bride, embarks on a quest to discover her mysterious husband among three brothers.
Mehar is not so obedient a fifteen-year-old that she won’t try to uncover which of the three brothers is her husband.
The story revolves around the enigmatic "China room," a dark, windowless chamber shared by the newly wedded brides, named after old willow-pattern plates from their mother-in-law's wedding dowry.
Veiled and secluded, the girls navigate their lives, awaiting the strict matriarch Mai's nod to meet their husbands in the China room. Their sole purpose is to produce heirs for the Sikh family. The narrative takes an unexpected twist as Mehar's world is shaken after revealing her husband's identity.
None of them knew which man she was married to … because they had to remain veiled the whole time. There was no electricity. It was in the middle of nowhere on a rural farmstead and they didn’t know who was the husband, so the story goes.
China Room is not just an intriguing plot; it is a character-driven novel with intertwined stories. It introduces a second unnamed protagonist, Mehar's great-grandson, who returns to India to battle drug addiction and stumbles upon the abandoned farm, specifically the China room, where he unveils many revelations.
Sahota's elegant prose is a highlight of the book. I found myself rereading passages to savour the book. For instance, his description of night descending "like a cupboard door shutting," and the worn-out charpoy, resembling more of a hammock than a bed, vividly evokes emotions.
His reflections on characters and their behaviour create a captivating experience for readers. Amidst the family drama, the novel delves into themes of belonging, alienation, identity, and loneliness, wrapped in a blanket of nostalgia and loss.
There was one photo that I’d focus on, a small picture in a dark-wood frame. It was of my great grandmother, an old white-haired woman who’d traveled all the way to England just so they she might hold me.
The photograph of the old lady holding a baby at the end hints that China Room might draw from the author's own family history. I thoroughly enjoyed Sahota's artful storytelling. I do recommend this enriching and multi-layered novel.
About the Author
Sunjeev
Sahota is the author of Ours Are the Streets and The Year of the
Runaways, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize, the
International Dylan Thomas Prize and the Sunday Times Young Writer of
the Year Award, and won the Encore Prize, the European Union Prize for
Literature, and the South Bank Sky Arts Award. He was chosen as one of Granta's
Best Young British Novelists in 2013. He lives in Sheffield.
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