China Room

A young bride in rural Punjab, is trying to discover the identity of her new husband. It is 1929, and she and her sisters-in-law - married to three brothers in a single ceremony - spend their days hard at work on the family farm, 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 deserted sun-scorched farm. In flight from the traumas of his adolescence, he spends the summer in painful recovery, gathering strength for the journey home.

'Amazing storytelling...gripping and very moving' BBC Radio 4, Open Book 'A rare novel that makes you pause

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021