cares how things are done. Rey sketches “a modest mind”– a CRTT system that has perception, can make deductive and China Room really shouldn’t have worked for me — it’s kind of a sentimental historical drama, dripping with desire and forbidden love — but it touched me. I cared about the characters, was fascinated by the customs, and appreciated the long view that author Sunjeev Sahota provides by splitting the storyline between two members of a Punjabi Sikh family, three generations and seventy years apart. This is unlike Sahota’s last Man Booker nominated novel ( The Year of the Runaways, which I loved), and although it feels less deep, it worked for me. Rounding up to four stars. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)

Sahota neatly intertwines the threads connecting the past and present, never forcing obvious connections, letting the reader make its mind how the common forces of love and friendship shape the protagonists. He manages to confront heavy themes of arranged marriage and largely gendered injustices through a tragic love story. His prose is delicate, beautiful and his plotting is spectacular, managing to foreshadow the inevitable without lessening the reader's desire to find out what will happen. Seale, William (1986). The President's House. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association. ISBN 0-912308-28-1. The 1929 section is quietly powerful but the modern day section for me did not work as well as it could have done. Some of the sections set in the narrator’s childhood were very powerful – for example a remembered ill-fated visit to a birthday party, glimpses of the struggles in the lives of his parents – but I felt these could have been longer. And I felt that the narrator’s initial struggles with addiction were rather disregarded over time and replaced with more of a relationship story. Both storylines are interesting and compliment each other. The first, being Punjab and 1929, explores themes of religion and caste. The terrible treatment of the women, who are essentially slaves in almost every facet of their lives, including sex. The birth of a son paramount to the patriarchal mother “Mai”.

Food and ambience

I've been here a few times and if you're having the set menu mid week then its OK for what it costs. It’s a decade since Sunjeev Sahota published his debut novel, Ours Are the Streets, a bravura piece of imaginative intensity that took the form of a journal written by a would-be suicide bomber, a British Muslim of Pakistani descent, for his wife, a white British woman, and their child. The reader never discovered whether the planned explosion in a Sheffield shopping centre took place; that was peripheral to Sahota’s primary aim of exploring the cultural alienation and isolation that, in this instance, led his protagonist to radicalisation and violence.

Not all prisons have bars," Radhika said, extinguishing the cigarette under her sandal. "And not all love is a prison." The two narratives share themes (beyond the fact that the two protagonists are relatives), with the 1929 storyline making up probably about 3/4 of the book. I wished the 1999 plot had been developed further, as the ending in particular felt rushed and I wanted the characters to feel more fleshed out as I think this would have allowed it to sit better with the 1929 chapters. He stands in the empty courtyard: above him the stars are bright and stitched into the day’s dark dress”.What was he thinking? Did he think he had made the right decision in coming here ? To this town? To England ? Did he wonder, like I did, like I still do whenever I see my daughter be so casually, so unthinkingly, sidelined in the playground, did he too wonder if these people would ever agree to share ownership of this land ? Did he worry that our lives here would always be seen as fundamentally illegitimate ? I appreciate how this book allowed me to see into another way of life and another time period. I also enjoyed the writing style as the author has a way with words that are easy to read yet at the same time very well written. However, I had many problems with this book. The writing is strong. It is understated rather than showy and it evokes a real atmosphere, especially in Mehar’s story. I can easily imagine this book being made into a movie. For me, the 1990s story felt a bit under-developed or rushed. It’s not often I say this, but it is only a short book and I felt it could have been longer with the two parts more equal in length.

I find it hard to rate this book as it is not my culture that this book is centered on and I read that this book is somewhat based off of the author’s own family history, but I still want to express my opinions on this book the best that I can and this review might turn into a rant... If this book interests you, don’t let my dissatisfaction in the book hinder you from reading it, but do proceed with caution as this book effected me mentally while I read it. Mehar is not so obedient a fifteen-year-old that she won’t try to uncover which of the three brothers is her husband.” SIMON: And I know it's at the end of the book, but do you mind if we begin by asking about that photo?This is the third novel by the author, who like me has a mathematics degree and like me started his career, post-graduation, working for a life insurance company (our paths rather diverged after that). But then again, this proves that the novel is interesting and smart - a book about family, about loneliness, longing and belonging, about trying to take control of one's own life. Both Mehar and her great-grandson feel foreign and marginalized, although for different reasons, and they both try to break free from what restricts them. Is the China room a place of protection or a prison - that's a question that tends to come up in different variations. Always take a trip to the China Room for takeaways. Best one around and unlime some places, eveytime time we visit the food is exactly the same. Best quality and always delcious. More in-depth thoughts to follow on https://thereadersroom.org/ where I am serving as a member of a panel (to analyze the Booker Prize).

A story of forbidden love that echoes across generations - from the prize-winning author of The Year of the Runaways. I re-read this book after its longlisting for the 2021 Booker Prize and had similar views to my first read. Sunjeev Sahota examines his family history in this historical novel that moves between the early and late 20th century in India.

Retailers:

Alan Turing and the ‘Hard’ and ‘Easy’ Problem of Cognition: Doing and Feeling,” Turing100: Essays in Honour of Centenary Turing Year 2012, His timeline and life connects with that of his great grandmother, Mehar, who as a young girl has an arranged marriage. She, along with Harbans and Gurleen, marry 3 brothers on the same day, in a period of time when they are expected to live under oppressive 'traditions' and rigid expectations, subject to the whims of rumours and judgements of small communities. Their lives are separate from the brothers, and whilst the men know who they are married to, they are kept in the dark, ruled over by their overbearing mother-in-law Mai, who organises the couplings, where there is a strong desire for a son. Any questions as to the brothers are rebuffed, and Mehar is to find her efforts for clarity and independence bring danger and threats. The whole concept of the girls not knowing their husbands leading to trouble (which kind of trouble you can very well imagine upfront) feels very YA to me, maybe fitting for a 15 year old main character, but still I can hardly believe when living in such a tight circle of 7 persons that one would make the mistake Mehar makes.