SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025

An enchanting story of two young people whose destinies cross and diverge across continents and years—a grand tale of love and family, India and America, tradition and modernity, by the Booker Prize-winning author of The Inheritance of Loss.

When Sonia and Sunny first see 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 interference that only served to drive Sonia and Sunny apart.

Sonia, an aspiring novelist who recently finished her studies in the snowy mountains of Vermont, has returned to her family in India, fearing 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 trying to escape his domineering mother and the violence of his warring clan. Uncertain about their future, Sonia and Sunny set out on a search for happiness together as they face many alienations of our modern world.

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the sweeping story of two young people navigating the many forces shaping their lives: country, class, race, history, and the complex bonds connecting 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.

BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 ACCORDING TO NEW STATESMAN, I PAPER, BBC, GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE NEW YORK TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, THE TIMES, ECONOMIST, OBSERVER.

‘I wanted to pack a little suitcase and stay inside this book forever’ Ann Patchett

‘Profound, sparkling, funny, exquisitely written, [The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny] teaches us how to live in full-throated exultation for the astonishments of this world’ Lauren Groff

Pages: 688, Dimensions: 15.3x15.3cm