CHINA ROOM, by Sanjeev Sahota

 

Literature -- 3 stars

In 1929 Punjab, three young women are married to three brothers.  Which woman belongs to which man is known only to the brothers and their mother, Mai.  Custom dictates that the women, except when they are alone, must keep their faces covered to the point where they can only see their own feet.  Still, they are expected to serve the family; and, when ordered by Mai, to spend the night in a completely dark room with their husband--a man they have never seen nor can identify.  Observing the brothers from afar, they all wonder which one is theirs, but Mehta is the only one determined to know for sure. Several generations later, Mehta's descendant comes to spend a summer in the small room where the three women lived and worked. ----- The customs described in this short novel were claustrophobic and completely foreign.  Still the main story was predictable.  I'm not sure what to make of the introduction of Mehta's great-great grandson.  There never was a connection made between the generations.  They were like separate stories, centered on a common piece of real estate.  In the end, I could neither like nor dislike the book.  Instead I was left thinking, "Well, that was interesting, but what was the point?"