Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2025

An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge - for readers of Patricia Highsmith, Sarah Waters and Ian McEwan's Atonement.

It is fifteen years after the Second World War, and Isabel has built herself a solitary life of discipline and strict routine in her late mother's country home, with not a fork or a word out of place. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel's doorstep - as a guest, there to stay for the season…

In the sweltering heat of summer, Isabel's desperate need for control reaches boiling point. What happens between the two women leads to a revelation which threatens to unravel all she has ever known.

Swamp or bog? Guilt or shame? Clementine or tangerine?

We like to think that we choose our words with care, but are we using them with any degree of accuracy - or should that be precision?

For hair-splitters and language lovers, Dictionary of Fine Distinctions explores the world of the vanishingly small, teasing apart the terms that we tend to collapse, conflate, or confuse. An illustrated odyssey into minute differences in meaning, Eli Burnstein's unputdownable guide will hone your wits, tickle your brain, and deepen your appreciation for the infinite (and infinitesimal) nuances all around us.

Lorenzo

Five months. Two people 'in love'. One fake relationship with an expiration date.
Sounds simple enough.
The problem is, Lily Muñoz and I have history.
So, when she volunteers to date me so I can improve my public image, I should say no.
Our past complicates everything, but since my future depends on her, I agree to her plan.
Faking it for the public is expected, but falling in love in private?
That isn't part of our arrangement.

Lily

Using a dating app sounded like a great idea, up until I discovered Lorenzo Vittori was my match.
My sister's boyfriend hates him. My mom is wary of him.
And me? I've spent the last year avoiding him.
But when my business is threatened, I'm forced into teaming up with Lorenzo to save it.
All I need to do is help him win the mayoral election, and he promises to protect my shop.
It doesn't take me long to learn that I'm not cut out for fake relationships, but Lorenzo?
He isn't capable of a real one.

We’re all so busy, caught up in life's moments, big and small . . .

The flight attendant working on her birthday.
The mother struggling with two young children.
The newlyweds off to their tropical honeymoon .
The overworked father missing his kid’s big show.
The young man returning from his best friend’s funeral.
The ER nurse wondering what retirement will bring.

All strangers. All unsuspecting. All on their own journey – or so they imagine.

Because they are each about to encounter an elderly woman. In just a few words, she will make a prediction, tying herself to them all. And, in being bound to her, these disparate strangers will be drawn together . . .

Who is this woman? Is she a clairvoyant? A charlatan? The answer to prayers, or a harbinger of nightmares?

They are about to find out – here one moment . . .

From the worldwide bestselling author of The Four Winds, The Nightingale and Firefly Lane (a Number One series on Netflix),The Women is a story of devastating loss and epic love.

It would be the journey of a lifetime . . .

'Women can be heroes, too'. When twenty-year-old nursing student, Frances "Frankie" McGrath, hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on California's idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the young men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed America. Frankie will also discover the true value of female friendship and the heartbreak that love can cause.

A cunning killer. A race around the world.
An iconic new detective team is born.

Solving murders. It's a family business.

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers the pub quiz and afternoons at home with his cat Trouble. His days of adventure are over – that’s his daughter-in-law Amy’s business now.

Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul, which makes being a private security officer to billionaires the perfect job. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Then a dead body, a bag of money and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending Steve an SOS...

As a breakneck race around the world begins, can they stay one step ahead of a deadly enemy?

This is the story of one lost poem, two great rivers, and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water.

In the ruins of Nineveh, that ancient city of Mesopotamia, there lies hidden in the sand fragments of a long-forgotten poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh.

In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames. When his brilliant memory earns him a spot as an apprentice at a printing press, the world opens up far beyond the slums and across the seas.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a Yazidi girl living by the River Tigris, waits to be baptised. The ceremony is cruelly interrupted, and soon she and her grandmother must journey across war-torn lands in the hope of reaching the sacred valley of their people.

In 2018 London, broken-hearted Zaleekhah, a hydrologist, moves to a houseboat on the Thames to escape the wreckage of her marriage – until an unexpected connection to her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling from one of the greatest writers of our time that spans centuries, continents and cultures, entwined by rivers, rains, and waterdrops.

‘Kabahiko is an amazing hippo. People say that if you touch the area of his body that you want to make better on yours, he’ll provide a cure'

Nestling at the bottom of a five-storey apartment block is the children's playground, Hinode Park. If you look to the side, standing on stubby legs, is a hippo. Its upturned eyes give it a teary look, yet for decades, its quiet power has sustained the hearts of one community.

Meet the neighbours who will reach out to kabahiko:

-Kanato presses his head to the hippo's cheek, hoping to recover the stellar marks he once scored;
- Sawa, a lonely new mother, strokes its mouth, hopes to connect as she once did when she was an award-winning retail assistant;
- Chiharu, a wedding-planner, hopes to be able to listen for the happiness of others;
- Yuya avoids sports day with a fake injury, only to find he really is in pain.
- despite Kazuhiko's fading eyes from too much editorial work, he will learn to see life's everyday wonders.

A quietly powerful story of hope, friendship and connection, Michiko Aoyama's beloved bestseller is a celebration of everyday encounters. Its subtle portrayal of the magic of community will lodge itself in every reader's heart.

Having firmly established the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in the novels A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was retained by The Strand Magazine to contribute a series of twelve short stories, which began with 'A Scandal in Bohemia' in 1891 and were published monthly for the next year. The stories, in which the master sleuth receives a stream of clients presenting him with baffling and bizarre mysteries in his consulting room at 221B Baker Street, were instantly popular and by the time of the publication of the final story, 'The Copper Beeches', they had become the mainstay of the magazine. They included such classic tales as 'The Five Orange Pips' and 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band', and were gathered together in a collection known as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, representing some of the finest detective stories ever written.

The impossible puzzles, irresistible romance and shocking twists continue in the second instalment in the brand-new GRANDEST GAMES series, set in the world of the #1 bestselling THE INHERITANCE GAMES.

FIVE PLAYERS REMAIN.
Seven Players arrived on Hawthorne Island to play a billionaire's game. Now only five remain, and the race to the finish line is on.

EVERYONE IS A LIAR.
The heat turns up on the competition - and between the players - and it becomes increasingly clear that no one will emerge from the Grandest Game unscathed.

AND SOMEONE IS WATCHING.
Millions are at stake, but so are hearts - and lives.

THE GAME IS ON.
The stakes get higher, the game gets twistier, and everything heats up in this newest instalment in the TikTok sensation Inheritance Games Saga - now over 6 MILLION COPIES sold.

Millions, hearts, and lives are on the line in this heart-stopping sequel to The Grandest Game by #1 bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
Seven players arrived on Hawthome Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win the Grandest Game. Millions are at stake, but so are hearts -and lives. The players now must race to win the game, solve myriad mysteries, and survive the twists and turns of Glorious Rivals.
The stakes get higher, the game gets twistier, and everything heats up in this newest instalment in the TikTok sensation Inheritance Games Saga now over 4 MILLION COPIES sold.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty acclaimed young-adult novels, including The Inheritance Games series, Little White Lies, Deadly Little Scandals, The Lovely and the Lost, and The Naturals series. Jen is also a Fulbright Scholar with advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 2012 and was a professor of psychology and professional writing at the University of Oklahoma for many years. She invites you to her online at www.jenniferlynnbames.com or follow her on Twitter @jenlynnbanes.

QUOTES
'Praise for The Inheritance Games:':
'Impossible to put down' Buzzfeed
'A master of puzzles and plot twists' E. Lockhart

Soms lê ek in my bed, my lyf opgekrul om herinneringe aan hom, totdat dit voel asof die woonstel se dak oplig en die mure wegval en ek omhels word deur die nag se fluweelsagte duisternis. Dan dryf ek uit my lyf, tot in die buitenste ruim waar my ouers glo al vir dekades lank saam met ruimterommel en stukkies meteoriet, al om en om ’n hemelliggaam sweef.

Op my boekrak staan ’n geraamde foto van hulle, geneem net voor hul laaste ruimtesending. Hul gesigte is stroef, asof hulle geweet het dit is hul laaste missie.

Of dalk het hulle net in die son gekyk.

Mila Kozlowa is ’n Moskouse psigoterapeut wat tydens beradingsessies sit en fantaseer oor geroosterde salm en seks.

Sy dink ook aan haar kinderjare – sprokiesagtige besoeke aan ’n afgeleë hut in ’n berkewoud saam met haar ouma Babusja. Nou is Babusja oud en verswak en Mila is verantwoordelik vir haar. Wat steek haar ouma vir haar weg? Waar is Mila se ouers? Het hulle regtig tydens ’n ruimtereis verdwyn?

Intussen ontmoet Mila ’n Suid-Afrikaner wat sy oorlogtrauma met haar deel en kort voor lank begin die skeidslyn tussen werklikheid en fantasie vervaag. Waar eindig die droom en begin die realiteit? En vir hoe lank kan ’n mens jou eie leuens glo?

TWO VILLAINS, ONE GIRL, AND A DEADLY BATTLE FOR HAPPILY EVER AFTER . . .

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she finally has it. She's married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle.

But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she paid for this fairy tale. She doesn't know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?

Ocean Vuong returns with an achingly beautiful novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.

Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing – formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness – are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance.

True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean...

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.

WINNER OF THE 2025 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION

The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new owner in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter forever, he flees to nearby Jackson’s Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father who recently returned to town.

So begins a dangerous and transcendent journey along the Mississippi River, towards the elusive promise of the free states and beyond. As James and Huck navigate the treacherous waters, each bend in the river holds the promise of both salvation and demise. And together, the unlikely pair embark on the most life-changing odyssey of them all . . .

The prequel to the supernatural exorcist adventure Jujutsu Kaisen! In a world where cursed spirits feed on unsuspecting humans, fragments of the legendary and feared demon Ryomen Sukuna have been lost and scattered about. Should any demon consume Sukuna’s body parts, the power they gain could destroy the world as we know it. Fortunately, there exists a mysterious school of jujutsu sorcerers who exist to protect the precarious existence of the living from the supernatural! Yuta Okkotsu is a nervous high school student who is suffering from a serious problem—his childhood friend Rika has turned into a Curse and won't leave him alone. Since Rika is no ordinary Curse, his plight is noticed by Satoru Gojo, a teacher at Jujutsu High, a school where fledgling exorcists learn how to combat Curses. Gojo convinces Yuta to enroll, but can he learn enough in time to confront the Curse that haunts him?

A LOVE WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
A DREAM WORTH DYING FOR.
AN ENDING WORTH WAITING FOR.

It's been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn't really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she can truly trust Legend - or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will also need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice of his own to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has finally begun. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

You can’t alter destiny . . .

Born and raised in a small village on the Yorkshire moors, Leah Thompson grows more beautiful with each passing day. When she catches the attention of the influential, troubled Delancey family, she knows her life will never be the same again.

Years later, Leah takes the modelling world by storm, travelling from Milan to London and New York and living life in the lap of luxury. But her past follows her like a dark shadow, mysteriously intertwined with the tragic tale of two young siblings in Poland during the Second World War.

As two generations of secrets threaten to explode, Leah is haunted by a fatal, forgotten prophecy from her past, and must fight to challenge the destiny that has been mapped out for her in the stars . . .

One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson’s family. Twelve years later, she’s ready for retribution.

Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of thirteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge—and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead.

With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them—even though it means putting her own life at risk.

Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eyes of every suitor in town with her tempestuous beauty, which has made her irresistible as a woman yet undesirable as a wife. Secretly, she longs for a life away from the expectations of men. When her father realizes that the future of his family and town will be forever cursed unless he appeases an enraged Aphrodite, he follows the orders of the Oracle, tying Psyche to a rock to be ravaged by a monstrous husband. And yet a monster never arrives.

When Eros, nonbinary deity of desire, sees Psyche, she cannot fulfill her promise to her mother Aphrodite to destroy the mortal young woman. Instead, Eros devises a plan to sweep Psyche away to a palace, hidden from the prying eyes of the gods and outside world. There, Eros and Psyche fall in love. Each night, Eros visits Psyche under the cover of impenetrable darkness, where they both experience untold passion and love. But each morning, Eros flies away before light comes to break the spell of the palace that keeps them safe.

Before long, Psyche’s nights spent in pleasure turn to days filled with doubts, as she grapples with the cost of secrecy and the complexities of freedom and desire. Restless and spurred by her sisters to reveal Eros’s true nature, she breaks her trust and forces a reckoning that tests them both—and transforms the very heavens in this “brilliant and luminous” (Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author) epic.

He’s the perfect man.

He says he loves you.

You think he might even be made for you.

Before long he’s moved into your house – and into your heart.

And then he leaves for days at a time. You don’t know where he’s gone or who he’s with.

And you realise - if you looked back - you’d say to yourself:

DON’T LET HIM IN.

Don’t miss the new read-in-one-sitting Lisa Jewell novel; a cautionary story that could happen to you…

The stunning third book in the sexy, action-packed Crescent City series, following the global bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath.

Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she's going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that's no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.

Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he's in the Asteri's dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce's fate. He's desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri's leash, his hands are quite literally tied.

In this sexy, breathtaking sequel to the #1 bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas's Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce and Hunt's world is brought to the brink of collapse-with its future resting on their shoulders.

When Sonia and Sunny first glimpse each other on an overnight train, they are immediately captivated, yet also embarrassed by the fact that their grandparents had once tried to matchmake them, a clumsy meddling that only served to drive Sonia and Sunny apart.

Sonia, an aspiring novelist who recently completed her studies in the snowy mountains of Vermont, has returned to her family in India, fearing she is haunted by a dark spell cast by an artist to whom she had once turned for intimacy and inspiration. Sunny, a struggling journalist resettled in New York City, is attempting to flee his imperious mother and the violence of his warring clan. Uncertain of their future, Sonia and Sunny embark on a search for happiness together as they confront the many alienations of our modern world.

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the sweeping tale of two young people navigating the many forces that shape their lives: country, class, race, history, and the complicated bonds that link one generation to the next. A love story, a family saga, and a rich novel of ideas, it is the most ambitious and accomplished work yet by one of our greatest novelists.

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek. The story of a hero's descent to the underworld.

Grad student Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become the brightest mind in the field of analytic magick.

But the only person who can make her dream come true is dead and – inconveniently – in Hell. And Alice, along with her biggest rival Peter Murdoch, is going after him.

But Hell is not as the philosophers claim, its rules are upside-down, and if she’s going to get out of there alive, she and Peter will have to work together.

That’s if they can agree on anything.

Will they triumph, or kill each other trying?