The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Not so much a novel as a marvel ... Here is sweet validation of the idea that to create something truly transcendent — a work of art depicting love, family, nature and culture in all their fullness — might take time ... Where to begin analyzing these close-to-700 pages, not one extraneous or boring? ... One of the many miracles of Desai’s writing is the attention she gives to secondary and even minor characters ... Among those most rarefied books: better company than real-life people. Feel the tingle.
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An epic romance ... Isn’t a gripping novel. That’s not a criticism — it’s just that Desai often writes as if she doesn’t care whether or not the reader is hooked. The story unfolds without any obvious rhythm. Narrative momentum is dissipated by swapping point of view ... It’s a grown-up novel that doesn’t hold the reader’s hand. Its undeniable power and heft is an effect of accumulated time spent in the company of Desai’s characters: the more you give, the more you’ll get.
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Capacious and shape-shifting though the novel is, filled with subtexts and shadow narratives, it is still a challenge to hold the contradictions and demands of multiple identities ... Both dizzyingly vast and insistently miniature ... She pulls it off, not only in her manoeuvring of cast and incident, but in her ability to elicit apprehension, laughter, compassion and curiosity in the reader.
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