India, Sept. 26 -- Booker Prize-winning author Kiran Desai has been shortlisted for the prestigious award once again, 19 years after her 2006 win for The Inheritance of Loss. The 53-year-old's new novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, is among the six titles on this year's shortlist, announced earlier this week. Described by judges as a "vast and immersive" narrative, the novel follows two young Indians - Sonia, a homesick student in Vermont, and Sunny, a struggling journalist in Brooklyn - as they navigate loneliness, identity, and the complexities of love across continents. At 667 pages, it is Kiran's longest work to date and is published by Hamish Hamilton. "An intimate and expansive epic about two people finding a pathway to love and each other. Rich in meditations about class, race and nationhood, this book has it all," said the judges about Kiran's latest work. A win would see Kiran Desai join an elite group as only the fifth author to win the Booker Prize twice in its 56-year history. It would also mark a landmark year for Indian literature: earlier in 2025, Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi, won the International Booker Prize. HTC...