The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny: A Novel
4.2 | 3,021 ratings
Price: 13.99
Last update: 01-13-2026
Product details
- ASIN : B0DQM5D1LJ
- Publisher : Hogarth
- Accessibility :
- Publication date : September 23, 2025
- Language : English
- File size : 7.9 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 645 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-1101947494
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank:#18 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- Coming of Age Fiction (Kindle Store)
- Family Life Fiction (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:4.24.2 out of 5 stars(2,959)
Top reviews from the United States
- pjhatchettExceptionalI do not normally review a book until I've finished it. I'm only 23 pages into this book and it's already clear this is a fine piece of writing. I have entered the story and want to get to know these people.. I read a lot, but it is rare that I find a book that is hard to put down. This one certainly is. I read a review in the NYT. Frankly I was not familiar with Kiran Desai. I'm approaching 80 and do not follow closely literature of recent writers. I tend to read and reread those books, that have stayed with me. Joseph Conrad's "Lord Jim", Saul Bellow's, "Henderson the Rain King," so many writers from the classrooms of English literature and creative writing classes. Stryron's" Confessions of Nat Turner", "Sophie's Choice", of course. Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories, "Cutting for Stone" by Verghese. You get the idea. Highly recommended. I'll get back to you when I finish.
10/23/2025
There exist pieces of art that defy words. They draw you in and reveal life as a multifaceted jewel with many sides and colors. Peering in, you hear and see secret things that are not lying around on the ground. Words without words. That come from the unknowing.
To be able to write like that is a gift of grace not learned. The work of Kiran Desai.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is one of the best books I have ever read. It etches a place on my heart because I see my- self and all of us, crossing language and culture. Life confirming. A revelation. - MysterygirlComedy or contempt? I dunno...I'm puzzled by the tone of this book. Sunny and Sonja are fully developed, complex characters that captured my interest. Both have come to the United States for schooling and careers; both are ambivalent about their homeland, families and life in the US. In particular, the section of the book describing Sonia's relationship with an abusive partner was compelling and very realistic. Sonja and Sunny are thrown together through a period of years but some problem always arises that breaks them up. Often, these problems stem from their own conflicted feelings and experiences as people who no longer fully fit into their homeland, and are not yet entirely comfortable in the US. But they're clearly meant for each other and I was definitely rooting for them.
But most of the other secondary characters, particularly those from India, are one dimensional caricatures, almost cartoons. In part, it's because the omniscient narrator has a dryly humorous, detached voice. I think these characters are supposed to be comical but it comes off as faintly contemptuous to my Western ear. Honestly, if it was authored by a non-Indian, we would definitely find this book to be offensive. It made me wonder if this book is really written for a non-Western audience, for whom these characters would be tropes who are very recognizable, beloved and affectionately embraced. - rachelkrantzGreat on a line levelI really appreciated the world and mood this book created. At times it felt a little long-winded, like it could have been edited down a bit, but it is so good on a line level that it kept me going throughout. I wouldn't really call it a love story the way it's been marketed, but it is worth reading for sure.
- JoannaDetails overkillI have picked this book up because I've seen it compared to epic 19th century family sagas, but unfortunately it turned out to be the exact opposite.
I am a sucker for slow, detailed, beautiful prose, and classic novels are right up my alley, they are so intricately woven; yet this book with its verbose style and bloated form looks rather like a draft where the author had thrown in all the ideas she had about each scene and in the end forgot to cross half of them out. More often than not the writing is just a wall of text overloaded with redundant and haphazard details, there is no mindfulness to it. In the end, the book reads rather like a product of a series of sleepless nights spent with an overdose of illegal stimulants, but without half the fun that could be expected thereof.
I do not doubt that the author has, to quote the ambitions of one of the title characters, "a sparkling cosmopolitan intellect", and I truly appreciate the broad choice of cultural references the book offers all along, but in the end I cannot recommend it in all conscience.
Actually, I think that a good summary comes up with what one of the main characters herself has said:
"I came to write a book."
"What is it about?"
"I don't know yet. It's all in pieces." - kariFantastically Beautiful WritingWhat a story! Yes it’s long, but this way the reader can savor the character development and begin to understand some of the Indian culture.
Desai’s words are strung together like pearls on a necklace. My book has so many paragraphs highlighted…I look forward to returning to so I can reread and enjoy again.
Don’t let the number of pages interfere with the possibility of reading this novel. - helloitsmeGreat book, too many wordsThis book was very well written and goes in to great depth as to culture, generational trauma, immigrants who do not feel at home in their new or home country, religions, class divisions, corruption, superstitions, expectations, and more. It was way too long however. I grazed over paragraphs and pages because it included many more words than were necessary and a reader could easily lose interest. If this book were whittled down to a third of the words that seemed redundant and not necessary, this book would have been perfect.
- EnglishteacherI couldn't stop reading this book. Read it into the wee hours of the night.I could not put down this book! It is magical. The intricate prose style is lyrical. The characters are subtle and real. The themes intertwine naturally with the plot and make the reader think while simultaneously feeling for the characters. At its heart, this novel is a love story--of family, of culture, of self, and romantic love that has room for the other loves.
- joan kaplanWhat an amazing readThis book was very well written. It made me realize how important it is to be truthful to yourself.
The characters were characters.
You need patience to read this. But once you have patience you will be rewarded.