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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 China

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
Beautifully written and narrated. Speaks of human emotions, shortcomings & life altogether in another era. The audiobook narration is exceptional.

Story from another lifetime

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This story telling is up to that of the great V S Naipaul. Engaging and educational.

India at heart

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I really liked Indira Varma’s narration but wasn’t impressed by Antonio Aakeel. He was very wooden and inexpressive. It was hard at time to distinguish between the characters.

Amazing story beautifully written

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