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BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLIST • KIRKUS PRIZE FINALIST “A sweeping page-turner, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is a kind of Romeo and Juliet story for a modern, globalized age.”—Publishers Weekly (Top 10 New Fall Books) One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Fall: The New York Times, Oprah Daily, Time, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Harper’s Bazaar, The Associated Press, Economist, Vulture, AARP, Ms. Magazine, Bustle, Book Riot, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Lit Hub, LibbyLife When Sonia and Sunny first glimpse each other on an overnight train, they are immediately captivated yet also embarrassed by the fact that their grandparents had once tried to matchmake them, a clumsy meddling that served only to drive Sonia and Sunny apart. Sonia, an aspiring novelist who recently completed her studies in the snowy mountains of Vermont, has returned to her family in India. She fears that she is haunted by a dark spell cast by an artist to whom she had once turned for intimacy and inspiration. Sunny, a struggling journalist resettled in New York City, is attempting to flee his imperious mother and the violence of his warring clan. Uncertain of their future, Sonia and Sunny embark on a search for happiness together as they confront the many alienations of our modern world. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the sweeping tale of two young people navigating the many forces that shape their lives: country, class, race, history, and the complicated bonds that link one generation to the next. A love story, a family saga, and a rich novel of ideas, it is the most ambitious and accomplished work yet by one of our greatest novelists.
Report
Kiran Desai's long-awaited third novel is an utter triumph . . . it's one of the strongest contenders on this year's Booker longlist . . . Sentence by sentence, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny makes for blissful reading . . . Desai has managed some literary alchemy. On the surface, she has written a believable but still cute will-they-won't-they romance . . . but she also incorporates elements of magical realism . . . and through all that, Desai uses the struggle of her two writer protagonists to acknowledge, embrace and then undercut various tropes and cliches that Western readers have come to expect from her, and her compatriots Lucy Scholes Daily Telegraph (5 stars)
