The novel takes place between two different time periods, 1929 and the 1990s. The main character, Mehar, becomes the new bride to one of three brothers although due to a strange set of circumstances she doesn’t know which one. A tragic story is played out. In the 1990’s, the great grandson travels to India to face his own demons and gradually learns the fate of his relative.
A good story that also teaches a little slice of cultural history. Enjoyed it immensely.

Longlisted for the Booker Prize, this was bound to be a cracker of a book. It doesn’t disappoint and was an absolute joy to read.

Beautiful, evocative, skilful prose, thoughtful and well-developed characterisation, and a plot that keeps you turning the page even while you want to linger over each wonderfully constructed paragraph, this is one of those novels that reminds you why you love reading.
Mehar’s situation is, obviously, dreadful, but she is no downtrodden, weak woman, but a real, flesh and blood human being who feels nothing like the stereotypes so often used in novels set in similar times. I loved her, and wanted so much for her to be happy.

The dual narratives/timelines work seamlessly and the contrasts between past and present are striking.

Highly recommended.

This is such a beautifully written book. Two storylines are interwoven so well in this. It just had me so engrossed and I needed to know how it ended.

Had been looking forward to reading this book. Sadly it wasn’t for me. It just lacked a good plot to get you excited and wanting more. It was very slow paced and never picked up

While the story was often a little perplexing, I greatly enjoyed the experience of reading this book. It is truly escapist and absorbing, and told in a unique, intelligent, inventive voice.

This is quite a sweet book, I enjoyed it mainly for the cultural experience rather than the plot if that makes sense? I felt like I was there…

I did struggle a bit to keep hold of the plot and work out who was who and when the character had changed, it did often throw me until I worked it out.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy reading it.

My thanks to Netgalley and Vintage Fiction for the copy

Two people living at two different times, could not be more different. However, their stories are interwoven skillfully by the author. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I had no idea where the story would take me. It's a novel about the price of freedom or at least glimpses of it.

An amazing read that I tore through mixing 1920s India and modern day.
Moving and full of likable characters o fully recommend this sad tale

This was really intriguing and interesting to read, I found I was lost in the story and wanted more, the writing style was wonderful and I almost forgot the time when reading it, would tell anyone to read it.

I enjoyed this book but I did find it confusing. There are two narratives whose links are only slowly unravelled, there are three wives and three husbands and it travels from 1929 to 1999.

Mehar is the central character and in 1929, when aged fifteen, she is sent off to be married to one of three brothers. There are two other potential wives as well. The brothers are ruled with an iron fist by their mother, Mai, who instructs the young women to lie in the dark on certain days when they will be visited by their husbands to be. The whole aim seems to be to make sure that they can produce sons. The women are curious as to which of the brothers is the one that visits them at night and there’s a gradual series of revelations which keep the story bowling along. There’s also a significant capacity for confusion in this arrangement and, predictably, this is what happens. To cut a long story short, Mehar falls for the wrong brother!

Then, the narrative shifts and it is about a young man, just finished A levels, returning to India from the UK to wrestle with an alcohol and drug problem. He goes through withdrawal and, perhaps, redemption at an old house used by the family.

That’s about it really. Mehar’s love for the wrong brother ends badly for her in 1929 while in 1999 the young man appears to have some hope. This is where the two narratives come together and it is revealed that there is some element of truth in the fiction and the young man is a great-grandson of Mehar.

It’s well written and the way that the girls cope with the bizarre domestic situation they are placed in is authentic. Other characters add depth to the narrative and the young man’s slow recovery is well charted as are the racist and prejudiced events which led to his addiction.

I think by the end we are meant to see that the young man is Sunjeev and this is a true story but, somehow, it didn’t hold together for me. The way that the husbands became swapped in Mehar’s mind somehow slips by and the failure to link the narratives at an earlier stage leaves you wondering what is going on. It’s a good read and maybe one that Sunjeev Sahota had to write. It might also make a good film with a little more signposting than there is in the book!

China Room by Sunjeev Sahota is the author’s third novel and partly inspired by his own family history. In rural Punjab in 1929, Mehar is one of three teenage girls who have had an arranged marriage to three brothers, but they are not allowed to know which brother they are each married to. The women work in the family “china room” by day away from their husbands until they are summoned to a darkened room by their mother-in-law at night to conceive a son. Mehar eventually believes she has worked out which brother is her husband, but this has dangerous consequences for her. Seventy years later, the unnamed great-grandson of Mehar travels from England to India, initially staying with his aunt and uncle and later to the now derelict farm where Mehar lived, while he attempts to get clean from heroin addiction before starting university. Sahota subtly draws thematic connections between the narratives, with Mehar’s story being the stronger and more memorable of the two overall. I enjoyed Sahota’s second novel The Year of the Runaways which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2015, and I was a little surprised that ‘China Room’ didn’t make the shortlist this year too (I have only read one other longlisted title so far though, so I can’t comment on the rest yet). Many thanks to Random House, Vintage Books for sending me a review copy via NetGalley.

Three brides for three brothers: it sounds like the setup of a folk tale, and there’s a timeless feel to this short novel set in the Punjab in the late 1920s and 1990s – it also reminded me of biblical stories like those of Jacob and Leah and David and Bathsheba. Mehar is one of three teenage girls married off to a set of brothers. The twist is that, because they wear heavy veils and only meet with their husbands at night for procreation, they don’t know which is which. Mehar is sure she’s worked out which brother is her husband, but her well-meaning curiosity has lasting consequences.

In the later storyline, a teenage addict returns from England to his ancestral estate to try to get clean before going to university and becomes captivated by the story of his great-grandmother and her sister wives, who were confined to the china room. The characters are real enough to touch, and the period and place details make the setting vivid. The two threads both explore limitations and desire, and the way the historical narrative keeps surging back in makes things surprisingly taut.

This book was great! I loved it and was gripped the whole time. It's set in India in 1920s with alternating timelines coming to the present day. It's very emotional, moving and lyrical. Great prose. I'd definitely read from the writer again.

I thought about why I felt the way I did about the book and how to put it into words. I hope that the time of introspection comes through here. I picked this book mostly because I read woefully few books based in my own home country. I wanted to read something that promised a juxtaposing of two different timelines around one location.
The problem then comes with the dual timeline. I would have preferred one timeline focused upon since I found it hard to emotionally invest in both the different people and times we encounter here. There were pockets of interactions or descriptions provided that were deep and involved, and it is only because of these moments that I actually completed the book. Otherwise, it was not for me.
The stifling conditions in both timelines, as well as the nuanced background, had a lot more potential than was explored here. Most of the focus was on hormonal reactions and that too at surface levels (or so it felt).
In the (relatively) present timeline, we have a boy sent to India in disgrace to cope with withdrawal from drug use. He is forced to stay in a rural location which is the scene of an old family scandal. The scandal is both publicly known and also a secret, with us being given the scene by scene events that led to the eventual issue.
Certain other reviewers online have gone into further detail about some of the more technical cultural discrepancies that I could not really put into words other than having a vague feeling of discomfort when I encountered them.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I absolutely loved this book. It was one of those books that entertains you, ,makes you think, teaches you something new and reflect upon for days afterwards. Told over two time-frames, in 1929 Punjab and 1990s Britain, it tells the story of two members of the same family. Deeply moving, beautifully written and totally unforgettable. Highly recommended.

China Room was a beautifully written, emotional novel set in rural Punjab in 1929 and the 1990’s. The unnamed male protagonist in the 90’s has travelled to stay with family mainly to kick a drug habit before he starts at university back in the UK. His addiction could well have been caused by the racist taunts and violence he has experienced at home in Britain - these things are addressed in the book.

He ends up staying on the abandoned family farm: a ramshackle building that needs a lot of work. One room is locked: the China Room. This is where his grandmother, Mehar, would have lived away from the prying eyes of men, working with the wives of the other two brothers to her husband. None of the women know who their husband is - they never see them in daylight. They cook and clean for them, and then have sex with them when their mother-in-law, Mai, allows. Their main function is to bear sons.

It’s a hard way of life, but the women accept their roles. As a 21st century women, living in the West, I found this very difficult to read. It’s an oppressive, claustrophobic life - even down to the veils that they had to wear when out in public which gave the impression of suffocation. I don’t know whether any of the girls actually looked another human in the face, other than each other and their mother-in-law.

But I found this timeline fascinating, and it was a huge contrast to that of Mehar’s grandson. It’s a compelling read - I read it in one sitting, and was a bit sad when I turned the last page, to leave the world of Mehar in particular.

Many thanks to Harvill Secker and Viking for my copy of this book to read and review.

"Not all prisons have bars," Radhika said, extinguishing the cigarette under her sandal. "And not all love is a prison."

I loved this novel with its interesting story and imperfect characters. I found myself immersed in the parallel timelines and captivating writing style.

Historical fiction can be a broad genre, with the strange unifying question in the back of my head being how true certain details are. Now I have merrily read books that anchor the preposterous in known historical events and thoroughly enjoyed the blend of reality and total fiction, but books like "China Room" blend the fact and fiction so well I found I had to remind myself it was indeed fiction. Sahota captures the narrator's voice so elegantly that I would've easily believed it to be a simple biography instead.

Of course, that believability comes from the fact that there are truths included. It's a story with strong roots in reality, but one that embraces fiction to deliver a powerful story. It switches between the first-person telling of a young man travelling to India, and his time in the old family home that carries memories from around the early times of the movement towards Indian independence, especially those of his great-grandmother, whose story is told in the other chapters through a third-person narrative. The switching is seamless and elegant. Instead of splitting the stories, it ties them closer. It builds on the familial bond and adds depth and power to the story.

And the story is really a rewarding read. Especially for me as a cultural outsider. It is a fascinating portrayal of the complexities of love almost a century ago. It is an insight into less told stories of Indians from that time, with caution and wariness towards the growing calls for independence. It is a different perspective to the ones I've generally come across and it had me engrossed. The events didn't overpower the real story though, they just provided background and atmosphere.

It all combines into a heartwarming and quite powerful story. It delivers everything in careful, measured sentences. It is affectionate and caring towards both the story and the characters. It proved to be a very enjoyable read, and one that I feel will linger with me.

A great book that deals with very serious issues like racism. It's enthralling, wonderfully written, and heartbreaking.
The dual timeline works fine and the plot flows keeping me hooked.
Great storytelling and character development, sometimes it seems a dream and then you are back to the harsh reality.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last as I loved it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The China Room of the title is a small outbuilding on a farm in the Punjab. It got its name from the set of six old willow-pattern plates that used to be arranged on a high shelf above the fire. It is also the link between the two strands of Sunjeev Sahota’s third novel. In 1929 it is where we meet three young girls who have been chosen to marry the three sons of widowed matriarch Mai. The brides are kept away from their husbands and instead are kept like prostitutes in the back room, covering their faces when their husbands come to have sex with them. The girls don't even know which man they are married too, and have to guess during the time they are outside and can see the men working. Meanwhile, in 1999, the troubled drug addict grand-son of the youngest girl – Mehar – arrives from London and ends up at the farm in his attempt to get clean, and starts to hear stories of her grandmother from those in the village.

The book is an examination of love, determination, and tradition - the girls serve one purpose: to produce male heirs, and in Mehar's case to produce one for the eldest son. Female children are not required. Sahota does a good job of bringing us into the world's of these characters, and uses and interesting technique of presenting Mehar's story in 1929 in the present tense, whilst telling her grandson's in the past tense. She is describing live as it is happening and he is looking back on his time at the farm-house. It works, and I enjoyed spending time with both characters and could see a future TV adaptation playing out at various points, in my head. Has it stayed with me? Not greatly, I have to admit. I enjoyed it whilst I was reading it, but I don’t feel any pull back to it.