NEW YORK (Diya TV) — The New York Times Book Review has released its highly anticipated year-end list, naming the top five fiction and nonfiction books of 2025. The list highlights works that combine storytelling skill, emotional depth, and literary ambition. Among the ten selections, two books by celebrated Indian authors stand out: Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny in fiction, and Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me in nonfiction.
Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny marks a major comeback for the author, who won acclaim for her debut novels. The New York Times praised the book as “better company than real-life people,” noting its rich storytelling and nearly 700-page scope. The novel is described as “crowded but never claustrophobic,” combining intricate family drama with a deep exploration of human emotions.
Born in India, Desai moved to England at 14 and later settled in the United States. The daughter of acclaimed author Anita Desai, she studied creative writing at Bennington College, Hollins University, and Columbia University. Her transnational experience informs much of her writing.
Set between 1996 and 2002, the story follows Sonia, an aspiring novelist, and Sunny, a New York journalist. Their paths cross briefly on a train in India, but a larger connection underlies their meeting. Sonia navigates a difficult romantic relationship in New York before returning to India. Sunny carries emotional scars from his upbringing while building his career in journalism. Their relationship develops slowly, shaped by memory, distance, and choice.
Desai described the novel as a study of loneliness in its many forms. She said she wanted to explore “the rifts between nations, between races, genders, religions, all as a kind of loneliness.” At the same time, the book celebrates solitude, personal growth, and the quiet dignity of being alone.
In nonfiction, Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me offers a raw, emotional memoir. The New York Times praised the book for its honesty and humor, describing it as “unsparing yet darkly funny.” Roy captures the complex character of her mother, Mary Roy, whose strength and imperfection shaped Roy’s life as a writer and activist.
Roy, best known for her Booker Prize-winning novel The God of Small Things, also gained recognition as a political activist. She writes on human rights and environmental issues and is known for challenging the Indian government. Mother Mary Comes to Me is her first memoir and was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.
The memoir traces Roy’s life from her childhood in Kerala, where her single mother founded a school, to her emergence as a novelist and activist. It explores Roy’s complicated relationship with her mother, whom she calls “my shelter and my storm.” The book confronts grief, family dynamics, and the search for freedom. It balances emotional depth with humor and political clarity, offering readers a vivid portrait of both a mother and a daughter navigating love, loss, and independence.
Both Desai and Roy highlight the power of Indian voices in global literature. Desai’s novel examines the emotional lives of immigrants and the nuances of modern relationships. Roy’s memoir offers a personal yet universal story of family, identity, and resilience. Together, these works show the depth, versatility, and enduring appeal of contemporary Indian literature.
