Book: China Room
Author: Sunjeev Sahota
Pages: 256
Read on: Kindle
Read in: ~2.5 hours
Plot Summary: 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 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, finally gathering the strength to return home.Things I Liked:
1. A historical literary fiction set in rural Punjab seemed really interesting to me because the only stories I've read about India in 1920s have been through an urban, educated and upper class lens via the writings of several Bengali authors. The only fiction based in rural India pre-Independence have been more agrarian in nature vs. social or familial. So, the premise of this book seemed very interesting to me because of the promise of a glimpse into this unknown (to me) society, culture and time in India's history. The author has said in interviews that this is a story inspired from events that occurred in his own family. Fascinating, right?
2. Mehar's story is truly heartbreaking. It also evoked a lot of claustrophobia and anger in me. Imagine being married off at 15 to a man you don't know- in many, many ways. Mehar's husband is not only an unknown entity to her, but is also, quite literally, unknown. You see, thanks to the purdah system, women were veiled right upto their navels! They were not permitted to look up or make eye contact with any older person, especially, men, even if the man in question was her husband! So, Mehar doesn't have a clue what her husband looks like. To add to her difficulties, in rural Punjab, husbands and wives didn't cohabit. The wives were given a little room to the side of the house where they were sequestered. There was one tiny little room where a couple could spend a some time with each other. This room was unlit and the act of making love was perfunctory with almost little to no touching. It is, therefore, not at all shocking that through a series of guesswork, Mehar assumes the wrong brother to be her husband. The brother, who also, has been secretly watching her and wanting her. The events that follow from this forbidden attraction have some very devastating consequences.
3. The book raises some important questions about the role and place of women in our society. Whether it is 1929 or 1999- when the second story of this book is based in- women are always judged basis their interactions with men. If she talks to a man, who is not her brother, father or husband, she is "characterless" and a harlot. Nothing much has changed for women over the centuries in this country.
4. I also liked the journey of our unnamed teenaged narrator from 1999. He is sent to India as a rehab of sorts and ends up staying in the abandoned rural property where Mehar lived after her marriage in 1929. It is here that he formed unlikely friendships with a doctor in her 30s and a teacher in his 40s. This friendship and the simple act of cleaning and painting the old house brought him back to life. He also delves into the racism and racist violence that shaped his childhood in England and how it drove him to drugs. The sweet relationship he had with his parents- owners of a small shop- and the distance created between them by his drug use were really moving.
5. The book is beautifully written and the stories of Mehar and our unnamed teenager are moving and make you think about life, society, rules, intolerance etc. The book stays with you long after you finish it.
Rating: 4/5
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