Exploring the 2025 Booker Prize Shortlist

The 2025 Booker Prize shortlist offers a diverse collection of stories ranging across various genres like historical fiction, campus novels, and dystopian fiction. Renowned previous Booker winners, Marlon James and Douglas Stuart, make a return with their latest works, The Disappearers and John of John, respectively. Elizabeth Strout is also a finalist once again with her novel, The Things We Never Say.

These novels range from the hilarious to the discomfiting, from the frighteningly strange to the alarmingly domestic, from the powerfully shocking to the intriguingly understated.

This statement by Mary Beard, the chair of the 2025 judging panel, emphasizes the high-quality writing present in this year’s selections. Each shortlisted author receives a specially bound copy of their book and a £2,500 prize (approximately $3,300). The overall winner, to be announced on November 9, will receive a trophy and a £50,000 prize (around $66,600).

Shortlisted Novels

The End of Everything by M. John Harrison

M. John Harrison, known for his science fiction, has penned thirteen novels and several short story collections. In The End of Everything, he explores a post-apocalyptic setting. The protagonist collects and sells items washed up along the English Channel until discovering something unusual.

The Disappearers by Marlon James

Marlon James, the 2015 Booker Prize winner, is also longlisted for the National Book Award this year. The Disappearers, his fifth book, dives into a violent mob attack against gay men staging a play in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1988. James mentions that this narrative was inspired by real events he felt had occurred but couldn’t confirm.

Black Bag by Luke Kennard

Poet and author of three novels, Luke Kennard presents Black Bag. The story follows a narrator hidden in a black bag at the back of a professor’s classroom. Inspired by an actual 1967 experiment, the novel explores the “mere-exposure effect” – becoming familiar and attached to something through repeated encounters.

May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry

Rebecca Perry’s debut novel, May We Feed the King, features in the shortlist. Told through the perspective of a curator, the story of a reluctant king and his historical remembrance unfolds. Described by The Guardian as an inventive exploration of history’s knowability.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout returns to the list with The Things We Never Say. Having been shortlisted in 2022 and longlisted in 2016, Strout’s new work continues to enchant critics. Maureen Corrigan from NPR acclaimed Strout’s continual ability to craft compelling narratives.

John of John by Douglas Stuart

Douglas Stuart, the 2020 Booker Prize winner, offers his third novel, John of John. It delves into the secret-shrouded lives of a father and son, exploring how religion, duty, and location shape their identities. Stuart recalled his childhood as being filled with various secrets in an interview with Fresh Air.