There are nine interconnecting short stories. The stories span three decades. The stories are very well written. A great collection

The House Next to the Factory by Sonal Kohli was a sweet book with a great beautiful cover that drew me in. This lovely book was set around the 1980's and then moves slowly through the decades. There are nine short beautifully written stories within it. Each story take us into the lives of ordinary people who are all connected to “The factory” in one way or another.

This book was one of my favourite short story books of 2022 and enjoyed every story. It made me wanting to go back to India and breathe in all the smells and atmosphere India has to offer.

I highly recommend this book and great for a holiday read or sitting in your comfy chair in from of a fire on a cold evening.

This collection features 8 short stories, ranging in time from 1980s to 2010. The characters well developed and loosely connected to each other. Some characters reappear in other stories which I quite enjoyed. The author knows how to say a lot without directly going into detail; ie she shows us what’s happening through her prose rather than telling us in so many words. And as with all short story collections, I liked some more than others but overall an interesting look at domestic life in India.

The House Next to the Factory
By Sonal Kohli

I have never been to India, but it features highly in my reading life. Could there be another place that can titivate all five senses through reading alone?

This gorgeous debut is no exception.

Nine short stories that are loosely connected, not so much by the eponymous house, more by the grandchildren we encounter in the first few stories. Through vividly imagined scenery, haunting music, make-your-mouth-water food descriptions and textures of fabrics, even grit, I may as well have been there. The writing is poetic, sensual and in high definition technicolour. Perfect for the armchair traveller.

Looking forward to seeing what this author produces next.

Publication date: 3rd November 2022
Thanks to #netgalley and #swiftpress for the egalley

Thoughtful and insightful….. Sonal Kohli charts the turbulent three decades of a 'rising' India. The author manages to infuse a thoroughly evocative atmosphere of India into a page-turner plot. An author to look out for. This one deserves 4 stars!

I usually like stories about Indian characters and the vibrant culture. This started well but I didn't find it easy to connect the characters and found it more like a book of short stories.
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

This debut collection from author Sonal Kohli of nine short stories centres on characters whose lives and dramas are independent of each other, but who are.connected through the titular house next to the factory.

The collection begins in the 1980s and moves slowly through the decades. The stories themselves are relatively minor in their scope - there are no grand incidents here (albeit the assassination of Indira Ghandi in 1984 forms the backdrop for one piece) - just images of the domestic through whose prism we gain an insight into Indian life in Delhi (and occasionally elsewhere). Some of the characters re-appear but the stories could easily be read independently of each other.

Due to its brevity I read this in one sitting, and that really helped soak me into this world, wonderfully created by Sonal Kohli's luminous prose. This is a debut collection which certainly marks her out as an author to watch.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.