When I first picked up the Booker Prize shortlisted The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, I thought it was the story of two Indian immigrants in America, their lives, struggles, and love. I imagined it would be something I could relate to as someone who left my hometown and moved to the UK for university. While I was not wrong, I had also underestimated how much the book was capable of giving me, and how much I would be left feeling when I finished reading it. In this novel, Desai explores the lives of our titular characters, but through her use of different images throughout, she makes it clear that the real protagonist is the loneliness itself.
Set in the late 1990s, at first glance this feels like a story about a loneliness that stems from cultural shock and racism. But as the narrative unfolds we see that it goes much deeper than that; we see it pouring out of every character we meet, in many different ways. It becomes a story about a loneliness that stems from love (or lack thereof), from heartbreak, unfamiliarity, and fear. Desai explores the lives of two families, within which every member is powerless against their own vulnerabilities, engulfed by their unique solitude in a way that alienates them from everyone that could provide them comfort and solace. The power that this emotion exerts on them and how it affects their relationships is constantly communicated by the images and metaphors sprinkled all over. An example is Sonia’s recurring inner monologue, “Happiness is for other people”: a perfect representation of the way she drowns herself in her negativity just to keep the loneliness alive within her.
Desai introduces many characters throughout, and she uses about a third of the novel on exposition to develop their complexity. While the pacing of the story is a little slow at the beginning, I believe the drawn out set-up is necessary to give us three-dimensional characters who can serve their purpose in bringing out a different facet of our protagonist, loneliness, which is the essence of the novel. It also gives Desai a chance to explore topics like traditions, society, and trauma across generations, and entangle them with the central themes to convey the multi-layered nature of life.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is a work of art. It is piece of literature with so many aspects to explore that it is impossible to unpack in just one article. It is a novel that left me wanting more, made me feel seen, and (ironically) made me feel less lonely. I would highly recommend reading it because I believe it has something to offer to everyone. And even if not, it is a compelling story of two new adults, and the loneliness that ultimately brings them together.
Words by Anushka Kulkarni
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