"just as the rancid odor lingers, even after the sewage has been removed, thus it lingered now, the anger, the repulsion, and the horror. and most of all, the guilt of not being able to protect nadia. or tell anyone."

there's something wrong with nadia. perhaps a jinn possession, or a mental illness rearing it's head—she will not eat, speak, or leave her room. the only one that knows the root of it is the one who cannot share it—the house nadia was born in.

"house number 12 block number 3" is a chilling look into how traumatic events can affect one's psyche and alter their whole core. told through the perspective of a house in karachi, it shows the story of a family setting their roots in following the 1947 partition. in addition to being an emotional story about the rahmat family, it follows the historical events in pakistan, india, and bangladesh.

the house is such an effective narrative element—it sees that which is hidden behind locked doors, but its perception is limited to its premises. this comes into play at the stomach-churning moment of realisation halfway through the book that lets you connect the dots without using any explicit details. it's a powerful story about women's role in society, depicting how much has changed and just how much has remained the same. balagamwala's debut is compelling and doesn't sugarcoat the struggles of women in south asian society, yet leaves you hopeful about what the future has to offer.

This story is told from the perspective of a house. If walls could talk…
This story deals with some hard hitting subjects and does this well. It is well written.

An interesting book that explores various social themes.
The characters are well-formed, especially Zainab and Nadia. Their relationship mirrors real-life mother-daughter relationships, in all its complexities. It’s also nice reading a book set in early 90s Karachi.

I found the writing in this story the highlight. It draws you in little by little. The story begins at one point in the timeline and moves back and forth before showing us a more recent update (although that is still not contemporary).
The house tells the story (which is not a spoiler, given that the blurb mentions it). It took me a while to warm up to the voice, but once I did, I found it a very entertaining way of watching things unfold.
The family has been residing in the house ever since their displacement after the partition of the subcontinent (or near enough). The former residents faced a similar situation when they had to up and leave. We hear that the girl of the house has a sort of mental issue seen by different people in differing ways. We are not left in the dark like the rest of the family is. An in-depth tour of the family, their bonds and their extended connections are provided to us.
In that context, I must say that the scene towards the revelation end reminded me of an Indian movie which had a similar reaction by the parent; in that case, it was the father/uncle, whereas here, it was the mother.
The story is set in a time and place which was illuminating and provides a viewpoint (the house notwithstanding) that few would have had a chance to explore before.
As is obvious, I liked the narrative style and storytelling fashion, but the plot itself was not as much of a draw to me. I felt like it could have been a shorter narrative with the central plot staying the same. In fact, it felt like a short story/novella at times.
I still recommend this to anyone who finds the blurb even remotely interesting because it is not a usually explored territory, country and period wise.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Title: House Number 12 Block Number 3*


Author: Sana Balagamwala


Rating: 3.5 stars / 5 stars

Favorite Quote: “I considered the events of the past year and hoped the worst was over. I suppose we did have something to celebrate, we may not have won the war but not losing a war warrants some celebration after all.” Balagamwala, Sana. House Number 12 Block Number 3. Hidden Shelf Publishing House, 2021.


Review: Thank you to the publisher, Hidden Shelf Publishing House, and the NetGalley platform, for the free e-ARC that I received in exchange for an honest review of this book.


House Number 12 Block Number 3 is a family saga and a political saga, following the protagonist Nadia’s family as they grow and interact with the world around them - Pakistan in the midst of political turmoil and change.


One of the most interesting aspects of this book is the perspective - the story is told from the point of view of the house where Nadia’s family lives. This omniscient house sees the plot folding both inside and outside of its walls, and is, for much of the novel, the only witness to the main source of trauma and conflict in the novel.


I think the perspective of this book is one of its strongest qualities. This was a fascinating approach to a novel’s narrative, and Balagamwala captures both the internal conflict of the family and the external conflict in Pakistan through the unique gaze of a structure that is, at least permanent, even as so much of the novel shows how fleeting life, relationships, and a sense of security can be.


Ultimately, my primary criticism of this novel is its pacing. The beginning feels too long in its set up, where the central conflict, (SPOILER ALERT AND TRIGGER WARNING) the SA of child Nadia, doesn’t happen until almost halfway through the book. The end, then, feels incredibly rushed - the family’s discovery of this assault and a resolution where much of the family conflict is suddenly resolved, when only pages previous, there was still an incredible amount of conflict and strain.


About that Quote: So, this quote exemplifies how Balagamwala successfully crafts a narrative from the perspective of the house, while still highlighting the strife of the country and of the family. This quote also highlights a theme that is prominent throughout the book - a balance of wins and losses and the time and effort that goes in to overcoming conflict.


TW for House Number 12 Block Number 3: SA of a child, political unrest, character death


Have you read House Number 12 Block Number 3? Share your thoughts below!

Time to catch up on my Netgalley reads again. I really enjoyed reading this one and what was so interesting about this is that the whole story is being narrated by a house! A house who can see everything that is going on within its walls but has no control to change anything. In this house lived a family of four and this is their story.

We have the father, Haji Rahmat and the mother, Zainab and two children, Junaid and Nadia. Rahmat and Zainab tried to be good parents for their children and they shared many happy memories in their home until Nadia changed overnight when she was seven. She became anxious and closed off. She stopped eating, communicating and preferred to keep to herself. What had caused Nadia to become this way?

At the same time, the political unrest in Pakistan had started and there were alot of uncertainties in their lives. Things became chaotic but Nadia managed to be herself again and remain strong for her family. Till this day, her family had no idea what happened to her. She spiralled back again when her father passed away suddenly. How can her family help her?

It was painful to read about what happened to Nadia and learning that trauma comes in many forms and they never truly go away. I love the way trauma and mental health is portrayed here without the need for explanation for what happened to Nadia. It was portrayed in emotions instead and on Nadia’s responses and how it affected her and her family.

I also enjoyed the consistent commentary on Pakistan’s political unrest and how there is calm amidst the chaos for this family. Like Nadia, the house has to be burdened with the knowledge of what it knows through all these years until Nadia is ready to share what happened. I was really happy with how the story ended for Nadia. It was strong and empowering, letting me know that Nadia has emerged from the storm stronger than she has ever been.

Thank you Netgalley and Hidden Shelf Publishing House for the arc.

a charming way to tell a sad story. The narrator is the house itself who cares deeply for its inhabitants but can do nothing to help them. It could have been more fleshed out (the political backdrop of Pakistan as well as Nadia's life was a bit squeezed together) but also, it was well done as is.

This book is about a house, as you can already tell by the title, that has seen and heard things, that it wants to tell others about but it can’t. It gives out subtle hints but obviously nobody notices and it has to keep the burden of the knowledge of it all through all these years, and watch silently as each one unravel.

The story mostly is a coming-of-age novel about a little girl, Nadia who grows up in times of political unrest and childhood trauma.

It goes without saying but please look out for trigger warnings: child abuse and childhood trauma

It is a story about how people just don’t notice when things go wrong and how gravely it affects some people. House number 12 block number 3 traces a period of several years in Pakistan about a family but mostly Nadia, whose father had recently died. Nadia hasn’t come out of her room since a very long time, she doesn’t eat and she’s always having nightmares that there’s someone in her room that is going to cause her harm.

I honestly don’t want to write much about this book because I fear if I talk more, I’ll spoil everything and if I do that, I won’t be able to forgive myself because this book was absolutely *chef’s kiss* for what it was trying to portray through the story!

So let’s quickly jump to my opinion…

I just loved loved loved the way this book has represented trauma and mental health problems without even once explaining or showing explicitly what actually happened with Nadia. There was no mention of what happened and the details, the how’s and the what’s. Still as a reader you would have an idea what IS actually happening with Nadia.

Basically, all that this book focuses is on how Nadia RESPONDING to what actually happened to her that led to her trauma and how exactly does her trauma affect her daily life even though that happened to her ages ago.

This is something that is almost never done well in books. Whenever we talk about child abuse or anything traumatic, we SHOW the details. Because that’s what we’ve been told to do in writing fiction. But not a lot of people know that this is what you must not do (must not show the details, that is) when you’re trying so sensitive.

Anyway, I just love how this author has done it well and when so many other writers don’t do it, at that. Love it. I hope that other authors and aspiring writers take inspiration from this book and write sensitively of topics that can be traumatic for people.

Also, did I mention how accurately Nadia’s trauma has been portrayed? I’m speechless. I wish I had the talent to write things that were so thought provoking!

The writing was also atmospheric and descriptive. The whole thing is told from the perspective of the house and so it almost felt like I was transported inside the book, into the lives of the family members that lived in the house, hearing the house tell their stories in its old croaky voice. The characters were very realistic as well as rounded in personality. The story is set several years after the India-Pakistan partition and is written from the perspective of Pakistan, which was another interesting factor that I’ve not come across in all the books I’ve read so far, being an Indian.

The only thing that did bother me throughout this book’s reading journey was the fact that this book also focuses on a lot of things unnecessarily for they didn’t add much to advance the story. For example, there are several mentions of the family living in the house thinking that there’s a jinn (a spirit of sorts) in the house that’s causing Nadia so much trouble. To an extent this was entertaining but at one point it made the story feel stretched to longer parts. Many other things kept becoming the main focus of the story and it did take me, as a reader, a while to understand what this whole book is all about in totality. This is only my personal opinion however that I just feel some parts were given more focus than they deserved in actuality. This in my understanding also slowed the pacing of the book.

The rest was done well and I have no other complaints. I wish that other people read this book too for when I finished reading it, my heart didn’t feel empty. It was a nice, tidy, tied with a satin ribbon ending that leaves you complete and satisfied. I didn’t feel like I need more from this book but in a good way, in a finished-but-i-am-satisfied kind of way.

I guess overall I would like to give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars! I’m so happy to have read this book. None of this would have happened, had it not been for Netgalley. So, my thanks to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes reading about heavy topics written well and people who like reading about mental health with a satisfying, powerful ending.

I found the novel so hard to get in to and unfortunately had to DNF about halfway through. I can certainly see how it can appeal to others but unfortunately it really went over my head :(

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc!

Review posted to Goodreads.

Quick, compelling read. Moved a little slow at times, but overall enjoyable. Very unique having the actual house act as the narrator, I really liked that.

What a unique and fresh perspective on grief and loss. Really enjoyed this story and the ending is the strongest part. Felt a disjointing feeling at times throughout the book

Thank you to NetGalley and Sana Balagamwala for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to the book as I liked the idea of finding out more about Nadia and what her story was. However, when I started reading the book I was a bit confused as to who was the narrator until I realized it was the house itself. 

The house takes us on a 3 decade journey where we grow to love all of the members that occupy the house and feel for their difficulties. I was mesmerized by the book and finished it in less than a day. 

Would highly recommend it to anyone.

House Number 12 is an “if these walls could talk” story narrated literally by a house watching over the family occupying it between 1957-88. It follows the story of Nadia, a young woman whose family lives in Karachi, Pakistan throughout a time of enormous political unrest. This serves as the backdrop to the unrest Nadia experiences while living there, which she will keep to herself for decades with only the house (which cannot speak) as a witness.

The premise of this book was interesting and the narration style reminded me a little bit of The Book Thief, which was narrated by Death. I also enjoyed learning a bit about Pakistan’s political history, as it’s admittedly something I knew next to nothing about.

Something didn’t quite click for me with this book though. The political backdrop felt disconnected from the narrative of Nadia and her family, and while it provided a setting it didn’t feel related or cohesive. I also felt that the main story arc of Nadia’s traumatic experience and subsequent mental illness were not fleshed out enough, and were very neatly resolved in a way that felt rushed. I wonder if 200 pages was too tight a squeeze for the coinciding storylines as it felt a bit incomplete.

That aside, Balagamwala’s prose is beautiful, with lines such as this one springing up frequently: “The sky bows under the heavy weight of the clouds, ripping at the edges. A few drops of rain fall from the sky and awaken the earth”. I read that one about four times to fully marinate in it before I could move on.

This book is out now (I’m just late with reading / reviewing). Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this book as well as the author Sana Balagamwala. This was so well written and very deep. Lives are struggling with depression and you could just feel the pain. Thank you for this read. I. do not want to say much as it was really good.

You probably already know that writing about trauma can help you heal from it and people who are dealing with personal tragedies are often advised by mental health professionals to keep a diary. But it doesn't just work on an individual level. Humans have been using the medium of art to voice collective trauma for ages. Through books, paintings, sculptures, music, movies, plays and all other forms of art, collective trauma is transformed into a type of collective memory that serves to redefine what it means to be a member of that collective. This type of art acknowledges the trauma and the fact that the collective's essence has been changed forever, but by emphasizing the strength its members have shown it creates a new and positive narrative - that of survival. Some of the most well-known examples of this are books and movies about the Holocaust or Black slavery but trauma can be found in the art of most places in the world.

House Number 12 Block Number 3 is told in exquisitely colourful prose from the perspective of a house, an all-knowing but powerless bystander in the unravelling of events in Pakistan from the 195os to the 1980s - mass violence, riots, wars and massacres. But at the heart of the story, and the house, we find Nadia, a young girl born into a wealthy family, who is loved by everyone around her and supposed to have a wonderful life. When things go awry for Nadia, the house despairs in not being able to help her or alert any of her loved ones to Nadia's suffering.

The spiral of pain that Nadia goes down coincides with the pain of her country. As the people of Pakistan go missing, get hurt or killed, and the country gets more and more destroyed by war and politics, Nadia too sinks deeper into anxiety and depression and becomes an empty shell of her former self. Her odd behaviour is seen as rebellious or explained by the possible presence of a jinn on the premises, and instead of getting the help she needs, Nadia is forced to go to school, entertain guests and meet with potential future husbands.

But one of the things I adore about this novel is that it's not the type of story that would just leave you scarred with no actual benefit. It's direct about the suffering and horrors Pakistan as a whole and Nadia as an individual have been through. However, this is a novel full of hope. It's an unputdownable story that speaks of the dangers of superstition, prejudice and the desire to maintain a social image in the face of sexual assault and mental illness, but it also speaks of an individual's and a collective's strength and survival instincts. It shows that the way out is through. It's liberating and cathartic. And it heals.

House Number 12 Block Number 3 comes out on October 26. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Hidden Shelf Publishing House and Sana Balagamwala for the advanced reader copy.

Wow what a book. I have read soooo many books with what I thought to be every pov under the sun I have never in my life read a book where the pov was a HOUSE. I loved the different characters and liked seeing so many different ones. If you liked A Woman Is No Man this is the book for you. It’s focused more on children than adults but it works really well for this book. The cover is beautiful and for debut novel I’d say it’s a home run!

The house that is the setting for this novel is also the narrator of this story of a family struggling with grief, secrets, and depression. It's beautifully written, and I wish it had been longer!

What an absolutely brilliant book, its story is told from the point of view of the house! I'm not kidding, nor am I going mad. Can you imagine all the stories the house had heard over the years, and now it's ready to spill its secrets.Abandoned during partition, Haji Rahmat buys the house ten years later. This is house where Haji Rahmat's family grows up

The language used in the book just makes it so delectable, the story touches on war, stigma, mental illness, culture, family and death, so it's intense, but not in an overwhelming way, you sort of glide through the pages. Sana Balagamwala caught life in Pakistan perfectly, it also lends an insight to the countries history.

The story flowed really well throughout, which made for very easy reading, I like the sensitivity the author used when it came to Haji Rahmats Daughter, it was sensitive and yet distressing, but there's a clear pathway to open up and talk about this topic moreOverall I really enjoyed the book, if you would like a copy then this releases on 26th October 2021 - the ISBN Number is 9781735414577. Please use independent booksellers, they will be so grateful you did and you help them stay in business, and we need our little indy bookshops to stay around!

There were certain aspects of this book that I did enjoy and others not so much. I very much enjoyed the cultural aspects, setting, narrator, but did not favour the descriptions provided with the tensions and conflict surrounding the area at the time. I found it confusing and not well-executed. I am still left with an incomplete history lesson in regard to the turmoil at the time. The book was too short and not descriptive. It read like a children’s chapter book, and was just too brief. I did love the story but it feels incomplete.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

We have an expression about wanting to be a fly on the wall so that we can eavesdrop on others. But what if you could be the wall? In House Number 12 Block Number 3, by Sana Balagamwala, the house itself tells the story after hearing all kinds of conversations over decades. The price of this gift, however, is that no one can hear the house when it really wants to spill secrets and shout warnings to the family it shelters within its walls.

We meet the family six months after the death of the patriarch. Zainab, the widow, is struggling between grief and moving on. Junaid, the son is ready to move on, literally, and wants the family to sell the house. Nadia, the favored daughter, is prostrate. She rarely leaves the room and never leaves the house. She barely eats. She doesn’t want to wash. Her mother has brought in doctors and healers to figure out what’s wrong; they diagnose everything from depression to possession by a jinn. The house knows what’s wrong, but it can’t speak to tell them what’s really wrong with Nadia.

House Number 12 Block Number 3 moves back and forth from the early 1980s back to the late-1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s. We watch Nadia grow up under her father’s indulgent eye and her mother’s worried one. When Nadia is a little girl, her uncle comes to visit and she is never the same again. The house knows—and we know, because of the house—what happened even though we (thankfully) never get the actual details.

This novel isn’t the usual story of triumph over abuse or about forgiveness or even really about healing. Instead, it’s a story about how secrets can never stay hidden, even if propriety really wants them to stay buried. The truth will out, to repeat another common saying. Because of its cathartic conclusion and Balagamwala deft touch with the details, House Number 12 Block 3 turned out to be a surprisingly satisfying read.