The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

Kiran Desai's novel, set mostly between 1996 and 2002, follows two young Indians whose families have long known each other. Sonia, an aspiring novelist who has just finished her studies in Vermont, has gone back to India and her family, fearing she is under a dark spell cast by an artist she once turned to for intimacy and inspiration. In New York City, Sunny, a struggling journalist, is trying to escape his imperious mother. Years earlier their grandparents tried to match them, which only drove them apart, and when they first catch sight of one another on an overnight train, they feel both attraction and embarrassment. It was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize.

Barack Obama included it among his favorite books of 2025.