Booker Prize shortlist spans dystopian worlds, family secrets, dark histories

Six novels spanning science fiction, historical fiction, campus fiction and stories of family, identity and social conflict have been shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, with past winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart returning as finalists alongside Elizabeth Strout.

The shortlist features a diverse collection of works that range from post-apocalyptic fiction and political violence to questions of memory, history, religion and secrecy, according to NPR. 

“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,” Mary Beard, chair of the 2025 judging panel, said in a statement. “This is writing at its best.”

The six shortlisted authors will each receive a specially bound copy of their book and a £2,500 prize, worth about $3,300. The Booker Prize winner, to be announced on Nov. 9, will receive a trophy and £50,000, or approximately $66,600.

Here are this year’s shortlisted books:

The End of Everything by M. John Harrison

Known for his science fiction, Harrison has published 13 novels as well as several short-story collections. In The End of Everything, he imagines a post-apocalyptic world in which the protagonist collects and sells objects washed ashore along the English Channel — until an unusual discovery changes the course of his life.

The Disappearers by Marlon James

James, who won the Booker Prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings, returns to the shortlist with his fifth novel, The Disappearers. The book centres on a violent mob attack against gay men staging a play in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1988, amid widespread homophobia.

In an interview with NPR, James said the incident depicted in the novel was inspired by something he believed had happened but could not prove.

“This attack in the book was based on an incident which I knew in my gut happened. I just couldn't prove it.”

Black Bag by Luke Kennard

Poet and novelist Luke Kennard’s Black Bag follows a narrator hidden inside a black bag at the back of a professor’s classroom. The novel draws on a real experiment conducted in 1967 involving the “mere-exposure effect” — the theory that repeated exposure can make people grow fond of something they initially dislike.

May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry

Poet Rebecca Perry makes the shortlist with her debut novel, which examines the story of a reluctant king and how his life is remembered through the eyes of a curator. The book explores the limits of historical knowledge and the ways stories are constructed and preserved.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Strout is a familiar name on the Booker list, having been shortlisted in 2022 for Oh William! and longlisted in 2016 for My Name Is Lucy Barton.

NPR critic Maureen Corrigan praised Strout’s latest work, saying: “Talk about enchantment. Every time Elizabeth Strout brings out a new novel — which is often — I think to myself: She can't pull off another great book again. And then she does.”

John of John by Douglas Stuart

Stuart, who won the Booker Prize in 2020 for his debut novel Shuggie Bain, is shortlisted again with John of John. The novel follows a father and son who share the same secret, exploring the influence of religion, obligation and place on their lives.

Speaking to NPR’s Fresh Air, Stuart reflected on the role of secrecy in his upbringing.

“I mean, I think my whole childhood was about secrets on all sorts of levels.”

By Sabina Mammadli