The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLIST • KIRKUS PRIZE FINALIST

A spellbinding story of two young people whose fates intersect and diverge across continents and years—an epic of love and family, India and America, tradition and modernity, by the Booker Prize–winning author of The Inheritance of Loss

“A transcendent triumph . . . not so much a novel as a marvel.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A spectacular literary achievement. I wanted to pack a little suitcase and stay inside this book forever.” —Ann Patchett

“Devastating, lyrical, and deeply romantic . . . an unmitigated joy to read.” —Khaled Hosseini

“Vast and immersive. . . . No detail, large or small, seems to escape Desai’s attention, every character (in a huge cast) feels fully realized, and the writing moves with consummate fluency between an array of modes: philosophical, comic, earnest, emotional, and uncanny.” —2025 Booker Prize Jury (Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Chris Power, Kiley Reid, Roddy Doyle, and Sarah Jessica Parker)

“Marvelous. . . . Desai is masterful. . . . The narrative is punctuated with nuanced, frequently devastating insights into the knottiness of race and representation, the legacy of orientalism, and the complexities of interracial and intercultural relationships. . . . The authorial voice is both incisive and witty, splicing serious observation with humour. . . . [The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny] floats upon itself, a gazing eye, a voice, a thought, a magnificent vision.” —The Washington Post

One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Fall: The New York Times, Oprah Daily, Time, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, Book Riot, Publishers Weekly, and more

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.