Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - China Room

TW: Child Abuse, Purdah, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Marital Rape, Rape, Oppression.

China room is a book that came off as a pleasant surprise to me. Though confusing in the beginning, once all the characters were introduced and the scene was set, I started enjoying the narration while also being positively intrigued as to what would happen next.

It runs in two timelines. The story of Meher, a victim of child marriage, and the current life of her great-grandson, a victim of drug abuse.

It took me a while to put two and two together and understand what was happening. Meher, along with two other women is married to three brothers and she tries her best to find out which of them is hers.

While her great-grandson arrives at his uncle's to get out of drug addiction and makes a decision to go live in their old family home. Here, he is bombarded with bits and pieces of gossip about Meher and how she was locked in a room for straying from her marriage.

While Meher is stuck between the brother she's married to and the brother she was supposed to be married to, the family politics, the 'ego' between the brothers, and the pressure to give them a child while her great-grandson is re-painting and bringing their ancestral home back to life while falling in love with the doctor.

The story had high potential and it does deliver to some extent with the exploration of all the traumas and how they affect lives.

Ultimately, there is an ending to both stories. I'm not exactly in content with them but I am glad we were not left hanging with a vague conclusion.

Spoiler alert and TW: Mai, Meher's dominant mother-in-law summons the women to a 'dark room' when their husbands request for them. Apparently, being the youngest of the three, Meher was betrothed to Suraj, the youngest of the brothers but after having a look at the three of them before the wedding, Jeet, the oldest brother marries her instead.

What happens next is very confusing to me because it seemed as though Meher was warming up to her husband and Suraj, who finds out about how she was supposed to be his wife, out of spite for his older brothers' power over him, persuades her to believe that he is the husband and 'makes love'. This obviously is sexual assault.

Now, I cannot seem to understand why even after learning about the deception, she continues to indulge in her love for him when she had initially warmed up to her husband. Then again, she was a 15-year-old.

Anyway, I can see why this was longlisted for the booker prize.

Content Warnings

abbycummings13's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

emmagreenwood's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

China Room hooked me with its opening line - “Mehar is not so obedient a fifteen-year-old that she won’t try to uncover which of the three brothers is her husband.”

In 1929 Punjab Mehar and her two new “sisters” are married to three brothers in a single ceremony. Custom requires that they are veiled and keep their eyes averted. Since her husband’s visits are conducted in virtual silence and darkness the mystery remains and her efforts to uncover his identity leads to a tragic ending. Interspersing Mehar’s story is that of her great-grandson who has travelled from Britain to India to visit relatives and overcome his heroin addiction.

There was much I loved about this novel, plenty I could appreciate, plus some aspects which frustrated me.

I loved Mehar and was fully invested in her story. I certainly loved the way the story shone a light on the poor treatment of women in traditional Indian society and the way other women contributed to that. I liked how the nuance of Mehar’s relationship with her sisters-in-law was depicted, the way they supported each other but were also in competition with to curry favour with Mai and to fall pregnant with a son. I appreciated her great-grandson’s storyline and the way it thematically connected with Mehar’s. Both were seeking freedom, one from confining gender role expectations and an abusive and controlling mother-in-law; the other from racism and addiction. What frustrated me was that the relative brevity of the book left me wanting more. Specifically I saw scope for more about Mai’s background and if there was anything in it that would explain her cruelty and extremely controlling behaviour. But I would also have loved more about Harbans and Gurleen, more about the brothers before the wedding, more about the political situation in India … just more in general. I could see what the author was attempting to do with the dual timelines but feel the book was too short to do justice to them both. Either the book needed to be longer or it should have focussed solely on Mehar’s storyline.

Final Verdict - I enjoyed the reading experience but was left hungry for more.

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thecriticalreader's review

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I chose this as a Book of the Month add-on because the premise sounded interesting.

Plot:

China Room follows two plots, one in 1999 with a young man and another with his great-grandmother, Mehar, in 1929. Mehar’s plot is much more fleshed out than the young man’s, although both were intriguing. Ultimately, however, Mehar’s plot plays out rather predictably, and the young man’s plot fizzles out anticlimactically.

Characters:

Most of Sahota’s characters have clear defining characteristics, but none are really explored as individuals. Sahota is more interested in the factors that motivate the characters—outside influences, relationships, etc. than he is in the people themselves.

Setting:

This book takes place in a small Indian village. As someone who has never been to India, Sahota does a good job capturing the stifling nature of the village. However, it could be hard to visualize as someone with little knowledge of India and Indian history. Of course, Sahota should not feel obligated to cater to white audiences—but this was just my experience reading the book. It gives a fascinating glimpse into rural Indian culture circa 1929.

Themes:

The main theme explored in China Room is relationships. Relationships between family and lovers. Characters navigate complicated relationships in complicated circumstances, often trapped between their own desires and societal expectations. For me, thematic exploration was the most compelling part of China Room.

Writing Style:

Sahota’s writing toes the line between dense and flowery. I never got overly frustrated with his writing, but at times I felt myself skimming over descriptive paragraphs to follow the plot.

Conclusion:

China Room is a challenging yet intriguing read, especially as a white American. The plot is captivating, especially initially, even if the resolution leaves something to be desired. Mehar’s plotline is much more interesting than the plot involving her great-grandson.

Other Points:

I did not connect to Mehar’s and Suraj’s relationship. I found it reflected more lust than love, so I wasn’t particularly rooting for them to make it to the end. Suraj seemed rather entitled and creepy (he did, after all, assault Mehar). I wished Mehar would find a place where she could be herself, but that place did not seem to be with Suraj.

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