The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny (2025) is a novel by Indian author Kiran Desai. Set between the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the novel follows two families, the Shahs and the Bhatias, as they attempt to remedy the unique forms of loneliness their children, Sonia and Sunny, experience as immigrants in the United States. During a chance encounter in India, Sonia and Sunny become instantly drawn to each other, moving them to consider their place in an increasingly globalized world. Desai uses this story to explore The Illusory Nature of the American Dream, The Role of Strife in Personal Growth, and The Tensions Between Tradition and Modernity.

Desai previously won the 2006 Man Booker Prize for her second novel The Inheritance of Loss, which also delved into themes of post-colonial migration. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize.

This study guide uses the 2025 hardcover first edition, published by Hogarth.

Content Warning: The source text and this study guide feature depictions of racism, gender discrimination, religious discrimination, antigay bias, sexual violence, substance use, mental illness, illness, death, cursing, sexual content, and physical and emotional abuse.

Plot Summary

In 1996, the Shah family learns that their youngest member, Sonia, is experiencing loneliness during her college studies in Vermont. To remedy the situation, the Shah patriarch, Lawyer Dadaji, seeks to match Sonia with the grandson of his family friend, Colonel Bhatia, since the grandson—Sunny—also lives in the United States.

Unbeknownst to both families, Sonia and Sunny are each involved in secret relationships with other people. Sonia has a turbulent affair with an older artist named Ilan de Toorjen Foss, who influences her aesthetics as a fiction writer but emotionally abuses her. Sunny, meanwhile, is dating a white girl named Ulla and reckoning with his discomfort over the artificiality of the life he has built in New York. Sunny receives the proposal to marry Sonia from his controlling mother, Babita, who persuades him to reject it. Secretly, Babita views Sonia as a threat to her relationship with Sunny. Her ultimate hope is to follow Sunny to the United States. Sunny, on the other hand, values his life abroad because it means he can live at a distance from Babita.

Sonia’s relationship with Ilan ends when Ilan’s wife intervenes, forcing Sonia to leave. Sonia realizes too late that she accidentally left Badal Baba, the demon amulet she inherited from her German grandfather, with Ilan and feels immense guilt for its loss. Sonia soon moves back to India, where she learns that her parents, Seher and Manav, have separated. Sonia tries to revive her writing by venturing into nonfiction writing, working on features for a culture magazine. Ulla, meanwhile, introduces Sunny to her parents, though by then their romance has already become strained.

Sunny accepts his childhood friend Satya’s invitation to join him in India to help him choose a wife. Satya eventually pushes Sunny away when he realizes that his matches are more attracted to Sunny than to him. Sunny visits his grandparents in Allahabad. On the train, Sunny has a chance encounter with Sonia and becomes instantly drawn to her. He learns that Sonia and her father are traveling to Allahabad for Dadaji’s funeral. Babita stirs tension between the two households when she tries to poach the Shahs’ family cook. Sunny covertly visits Manav with the hope of seeing Sonia again. Before Sunny leaves Allahabad, he and Sonia connect over their experiences of loneliness abroad. Babita becomes enraged when she learns about Sunny’s infatuation with Sonia.

When Ulla breaks up with Sunny, Satya invites Sunny to join him and his new wife, Pooja, on their honeymoon in Goa. Sunny is further consoled by the fact of his sponsorship for US residency. He emails Sonia to inform her that he is coming to Goa. Sonia pitches a feature on Goa to justify meeting him there.

In Goa, Satya pushes Sunny away again when he realizes that Pooja is attracted to Sunny. Sunny spends the rest of his trip in a passionate getaway with Sonia. Sunny is torn over the idea of giving up his American residency to live closer to Sonia, especially if it means living close to Babita again. Sonia’s trauma over her relationship with Ilan begins to manifest in Goa, culminating in the appearance of a ghostly dog that harasses Sonia and Sunny at the beach. After learning about the tryst from Satya, Babita antagonizes Sunny, prompting him to seek the advice of his paternal uncles. Sunny consequently encourages Babita to sell her share of the family estate, Panchsheel Park, leveraging her sympathy for him and the possibility of moving to New York to dispel her belligerence.

When Sonia’s tourist visa is denied at the US embassy, Sunny and Sonia arrange to meet in Venice. The trip is marked by several disagreements as Sunny tries to assert that he is more politically aware than other tourists and Sonia expresses her political indifference. This culminates in a disastrous visit to a gallery where Ilan’s work is on display. When Sonia sees a nude painting of herself in the exhibit, she physically drags Sunny away before admitting to her relationship with Ilan. Taking Babita’s assertion that Sonia had been lonely to heart, Sunny becomes convinced that Sonia was lying. This causes a rift between them.

Hoping to influence Sunny to follow her to Goa, Babita agrees to sell her share of the property, which her brothers-in-law execute through an underground financial system. Neither she nor Sunny ever receive their share of the sale. Soon, Babita’s brothers-in-law are murdered, forcing Babita to flee to Goa for her safety. She warns Sunny not to return to India, which makes him feel guilty about his American privilege. When he wins an essay competition, Sunny uses the travel grant to escape to Mexico. Manav is diagnosed with lymphoma, which forces Sonia to shoulder the burden of caring for him alone. When Sonia goes on a “self-care” assignment for her magazine, her tour guide sexually assaults her. Sonia temporarily withdraws from work, forcing her to sell her family’s valuables to finance Manav’s treatment. Before he dies, Manav encourages Sonia with thoughts of married life, framing Sunny as her future husband. Sonia decides that she must overcome Ilan’s repressive influence and become an independent woman. She moves to Goa.

In Mexico, Sunny tries to fit into a seaside expatriate community. He is alienated when the predominantly white expatriates associate him with the September 11th attacks. Satya visits Sunny to reconcile with him. When Satya encourages him to sympathize with Sonia’s trauma, Sunny is inspired to confront Ilan, who also lives in Mexico, and retrieve the Badal Baba amulet for Sonia. He does so with the help of a mysterious woman, whom he offers to rescue from Ilan. Sunny shelters the woman in his motel room, only for her to vanish the following morning.

In Goa, Sonia tries to rediscover her voice as a fiction writer. A new friend named Darius encourages Sonia to draw from her traumatic experiences to inform her writing. He challenges her to seek out the ghost dog that harassed her and Sunny during their relationship. Soon after Sonia drafts new pieces of writing, she encounters the ghost dog, who vanishes into her.

Sonia turns to Babita, who is now embarrassed over her many faults against the Shah family. She hosts Sonia in her house, who returns the favor by gifting Babita with their family recipe for kebabs. Babita is further moved when Sonia relieves her anxiety over the fates of her former house staff, who were presumed to have been abducted by the murderers of her brothers-in-law. Babita acknowledges her sins to Sonia, who reassures her that they will work together to overcome their loneliness.

The novel ends with Sunny returning the amulet to Sonia in Goa, where they resume their relationship.