The overall reading
experience of this epic novel will stay with me for a very long time. (Review by Fiona de Goede)
Kiran Desai won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2006 for her
novel The Inheritance of Loss. She was again nominated for the 2025 Booker
Prize for The Loneliness of Sonia and
Sunny, nineteen years later.
At just shy of 700 pages, this is an epic saga set between 1996 to the early 2000’s. It is a cross-over genre consisting of a love story, family saga, cultural and social ideas as well as fantasy. She was not awarded the Booker Prize for this offering.
Sonia Shah is an aspiring author but gets sidetracked into a relationship with the artist Ilan de Toorjen Foss, many years her senior. The relationship is borderline abusive – not physically but emotionally. She battles to break free from the cycle of dependence on the artist and by doing so, has to confront her loneliness.
The fantasy aspect of this novel is in the shape of an amulet that has been in Sonia’s family for generations. The loss of this talisman is a powerful thread that is woven throughout the book.
Sunny Bhatia is a journalist trying to “make it” in New York City. His overbearing, controlling mother impacts hugely on his choices and decision making – he wants to flee that part of his life but his guilt invariably intervenes.
Their families try to arrange a matchmaking between them but this goes awry. It is therefore hugely ironic that they then meet, randomly, on an overnight train and instantly they feel drawn to one another. Their relationship grows, but underlying feelings of fear and identity are evident and serves to act as a stumbling block in the natural progression of their ongoing union.
This is a saga with many twists, turns, subplots, minor characters, and world events. It is primarily set in India, USA (Vermont, NYC), Mexico and Goa. The issues of the immigrant experience, racial class and caste as well as cultural identity loss is dealt with.
I doubt whether there are many readers that will complete a 700-page tome and not experience moments of boredom as well as moments of pure reading pleasure. I certainly fall into that category. The bulk of this book (pun intended – it is heavy and takes its toll on your forearm muscles!) is enjoyable. By comparison, the irksome bits are in the minority and my main criticism would be that several of the characters felt superfluous to requirements.
However, it is a small price to pay and I happily waded through the bits that did not excite me – the overall reading experience of this epic novel will stay with me for a very long time. - Fiona de Goede
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is published by Penguin Random House: ISBN978-0-241-77084-9
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