Review of the Day: The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Given the length of complexity of this remarkable novel, I have skipped any attempt to summarize the plot and just share two sections I enjoyed reading. The first is a reference to Junichoro Tanizaki’s 1933 essay, “In Praise of Shadows”.

“Do you know a book about shadows by the Japanese writer Tanizaki? No? He argued that shadows and shadowy old bathrooms were a doorway to the past and that shadows make life theatrical and mysterious, earthy and natural. I remember those Indian bathrooms” (p. 24).

Toward the beginning of the book, Sunny is living in Brooklyn with, Ulla, a white American woman from rural Kansas. The two travel to her home to meet her parents:

“Ulla had told Sunny he was not to say anything complimentary about socialism or Jimmy Carter or even Bill Clinton. He should not praise the healthcare system in Cuba or Sweden. He should not express wonder at women voting Republican. He shouldn’t venture—not at all—to the subject of guns. 

She had warned her parents not to divulge they owned five guns kept locked in the basement. That Ulla herself had hunted wild turkeys when she was a child, that she was a better shot than her father. They must not ask if cows were sacred or whether Indians still lived in mud huts” (p. 170).

On the way back, here is their conversation.

“I really liked meeting your parents,” said Sunny after they had dropped off the sporty red car at the rental place and were at the airport awaiting their return flight. 

Ulla said, “You didn’t meet them.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“They were so not themselves that you did not actually meet my parents. My poor dad, when it’s this hot he likes to sit in his underwear, guzzle a beer, and yell at the television. And because you were there, he couldn’t. My mother couldn’t even swear, she was so scared of you” (p. 173).

In my opinion, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the best novel published in 2025 so far.

kindle and libro fm audiobook. 673 pgs. 28 September 2025.