Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist 2025

On 4 March 2025, the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist was revealed! The annual literary award celebrating women writers has previously recognised the talents of so many gifted writers, including these past winners:

Barbara Kingsolver - Demon Copperhead (2023)

Ruth Ozeki - The Book of Form and Emptiness (2022)

Susanna Clarke - Piranesi (2021)

Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet (2020)

Tayari Jones - An American Marriage (2019)

Lionel Shriver - We Need to Talk About Kevin (2005)

Andrea Levy - Small Island (2004)

 

The 2025 longlist is as follows:

Aria Aber - Good Girl

The judges summarise this novel as 'Set in Berlin’s artistic underground and nightclub scene, it follows Nila, a young woman born to Afghan parents as she comes to terms with her identity.' She tells people her background is Greek, not Afghani. Nila meets Marlowe Woods, a once famous American writer, and is exposed to a creative life. Aber was raised in Germany and is now based in America where she teaches creative writing.

 

Kaliane Bradley - The Ministry of Time

A disaffected civil servant takes on a job in a new ministry. The judges summarise the book as 'a genre-bending novel, which combines sci-fi, romance, a spy thriller, fantasy and historical fiction. It tells the story of a civil servant who falls in love with a man from 1847 who is brought into the present via a time machine.' This is British-Cambodian author Bradley's debut novel. I have had my eye on this book for some time and can't wait to read it.

Jenni Daiches - Somewhere Else

Rosa Roshkin is five years old when her family is murdered in a pogrom. Fleeing Poland, she is adopted by a Scottish family.  The judges describe this as 'an epic generational story about womanhood and living in a country when you feel home is 'somewhere else'. Spanning the main character's lifetime and witnessing the effect of momentous events such as both World Wars, the creation of Israel and the fall of the Berlin Wall, it shows the dramatic effect on the family for generations to come.' American author Daiches has lived in Scotland for the past fifty years and is the author of three previous novels and two collections of poetry.

Saraid de Silva - Amma

In 1951, ten-year-old Josephina kills her abuser. Decades later her granddaughter sets out to discover what happened to her family and shy they left Sri Lanka. The judges describe this as 'a multi-generational story about a Sri Lankan woman, her daughter and granddaughter, spanning decades and countries from Sri Lanka to New Zealand.' de Silva is a Sri Lankan author living in New Zealand. This is her first novel.

Karen Jennings - Crooked Seeds

Deidre sees herself as a victim and as such frees herself of all obligations. When she returns to her family home in Cape Town she is forced to accept the truth of her past. Jennings is an award-winning South African writer, known for her previous novels Finding Soutbek (2012) and An Island (2020).

Miranda July - All Fours

An artist leaves her family in Los Angeles to drive across the country for a work trip. A short drive from home, she checks into a motel and stays for the duration of her time away, reflecting on her life and marriage. Consumed by her fear of life after menopause, she sets out to explore her sexual fantasies before it is too late. July is a filmmaker, performance artist and writer, best known for her previous novel The First Bad Man (2015). I absolutely loved All Fours, especially with the audiobook narrated by the author. My review is available on this blog. 

Laila Lalami - The Dream Hotel

Returning home from a trip, Sara is pulled aside at the airport by agents from the Risk Assessment Administration. Using data from her dreams, they predict she may be about to commit a crime. She is held for observation for 21 days in the dream hotel to ensure that she is no danger. Laila Lalami is an American author of five books. I love speculative fiction, so many need to check this out, although it does sound a bit like Minority Report.

Sanam Mahloudji - The Persians 

In Iran the matriarch of the Valiat family, Elizabeth, remained in Tehran despite the revolution. Her daughters moved to America where they have established new lives for themselves.  Decades later the family is fractured and one daughter seeks to restore her family's reputation after scandal. London based author Mahloudji was born in Tehran and fled during the Islamic Revolution. This is her debut novel.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Dream Count

The latest novel by acclaimed Nigerian author of Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013), Dream Count was widely anticipated to be on the longlist. It tells the story of four Nigerian/American women during the pandemic. Each woman has their own ambitions and desires, and life hasn't necessarily proceeded according to plan. After a ten year absence from publishing, it is great to have new work by this brilliant author.

Roisin O'Donnell - Nesting

Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change her life as she grabs her daughters and drives away from an unsafe home in Dublin. Facing life without a safety net, she has to navigate housing and social security, all the while facing pressure from her husband to return. Can she break free from a toxic relationship and start over? O'Donnell is an award-winning Irish author of short stories. Nesting is her first novel.

Rosanna Pike - A Little Trickerie

Tibb Ingleby has lived a vagabond life. Orphaned and alone, she travels across medieval England. The judges said this is a '...moving and funny historical novel, in which a rag-tag band of waifs and strays try to pull off the heist of the sixteenth century. Cheeky, charming and almost Chaucerian, A Little Trickerie is a joy to behold.'  Pike is a former primary school teacher and English literature student. This is her debut novel.

Rose Ruane - Birding

In the 1990s Lydia was a teenage pop star. Now three decades later she is caught up in the #MeToo movement when a former lover asks forgiveness. Middle aged Joyce lives at home with her mother Betty. Joyce and Lydia having seemingly unconnected lives, but may end up colliding. The judges said Birding is 'the story of two very different women who live in a seaside town in Britain - it speaks to the reality of being a woman not only today, but also coming of age in the nineties and noughties.' Scottish artist and author Ruane is also the author of This is Yesterday (2019). 

Lucy Steeds - The Artist

It is the summer of 1920 in Provence. Ettie resides in a remote farmhouse with her reclusive artist uncle, the great Edouard Tartuffe. An aspiring journalist, Joseph, arrives to interview the artist. The longer Josepg spends in the household, the more curious he is about what secrets like beneath. This is British author Steeds' debut novel.

Elizabeth Strout - Tell Me Everything

In Crosby, Maine, lawyer Bob Burgess is defending a lowly man accursed of murdering his mother. He is also in a deep friendship with local writer Lucy Barton. Meanwhile Lucy befriends the elderly Olive Kitteridge , who tells her stories of peoople's lives. Strout is a Pulitzer Prize winning author best known for her Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton series of novels. I enjoyed reading Kitteridge a few months ago and would be keen to go back into Strout's world. 

Yael van der Wouden - The Safekeep

Fifteen years after the end of World War II, the Netherlands is quiet and has been reconstructed. In a rural Dutch province, Isabel lives a peaceful life in her late mother's country home. When her brother Louis and his girlfriend Eva show up for an extended stay, Isabel's life is disrupted. Dutch author van der Wouden is a lecturer in literature and creative writing. I read this novel last month and really loved it.  My review is available on this blog. 

Nussaibah Younis - Fundamentally

Academic Nadia has been dumped by her lover Rosy and disowned by her mother. She decides to take on a job with the UN in Iraq, rehabilitating ISIS women. Here she meets a young East Londoner who joined ISIS at fifteen. Nadia recognises herself in this girl and finds herself bonded in friendship until a confession upends everything again. Author Dr Nussaibah Younis is a peacebuilding practitioner an expert on contemporary Iraq.

The chair of the judges Kit de Waal said of this longlist:

These are important, far-reaching novels where brilliantly realised characters navigate the complexities of families and modern relationships, whilst pushing the boundaries placed around them. It’s a list that readers will devour and shows the echoes of world events on everyday lives as well as the power and brilliance of women writing today.

My thoughts on the Longlist

This was an exciting list given there was so many surprises. Last week I blogged my predictions for which books would make the cut. I correctly guessed four titles - novels by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,  Kaliane Bradley, Miranda July and Yael van der Wouden - would make the list. I had expected to see Sally Rooney, Ali Smith, Elif Shafak and Anne Tyler as well and am surprised that one or two of those didnt make it. I am also a bit disappointed that no Australian authors made the list as I was rooting for Emily Maguire or Evie Wyld to be longlisted.

Many of these authors I have not heard of, so I am delighted to be exposed to new writers. Last year's longlist gave me many hours of reading pleasure, so I am hopeful that this year's list will do the same. I have read and loved the novels by July and van der Wouden.  I am also keen to track down the works by Bradley, Pike, Strout and Lailami.

If I had to pick a shortlist, I would choose All Fours, Dream Count, The Safekeep and Tell Me Everything   to be among those listed. 

The shortlist will be announced on 2 April 2025 and the winner will be revealed on 12 June 2025. Happy reading!

Want more Longlist fun? Here are the judges announcing the longlist.

Stella Prize Longlist 2025

The 2025 Stella Prize longlist has been released! The annual literary award celebrating women and non-binary writers of both fiction and non-fiction is named after Australian author Stella Miles Franklin. 

Past winners include some of my favourite books on recent years:

Sarah Holland-Batt for The Jaguar (2023)

Evelyn Araleun for Drop Bear (2022)

Evie Wyld for The Bass Rock (2021)

Jess Hill for See What You Made Me Do (2020)

Vicki Laveau-Harvie for The Erratics (2019)

Alexis Wright for Tracker (2018)

Heather Rose for The Museum of Modern Love (2017)

Charlotte Wood for The Natural Way of Things (2016)

Emily Bitto for The Strays (2015)

Claire Wright for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2014)

Carrie Tiffany for Mateship with Birds (2013)

On 4 March 2025, the longlist was revealed with 12 nominees. I have already read two of the books and loved them, and others are on my wish list.

The 2025 longlist is as follows:

Jumaana Abdu - Translations 

This debut novel focuses on Aliyah and her daughter Sakina who move from the city to rural New South Wales to start a new life. Here she takes in others who have also been displaced. Abdu is a junior medical doctor who has been published in various publications and collections. She is the recipient of the Dal Stivens Award and the Patricia Hackett Prize.

Manisha Anjali - Naag Mountain 

A debut collection of poetry by Indo-Fijian poet Manisha Anjali. Her work covers themes of displacement, community and history. The judges said 'An incantatory debut collection, Manisha Anjali's Naag Mountain takes its shape in the brilliant language of dreams.' Anjali is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne.

Melanie Cheng - The Burrow 

I recently finished this delightful novel about a family coming to terms with grief and isolation. Beautifully written, told from the point of view of each main character, this is a heartwarming and hopeful story.  Cheng is a gifted writer and general practitioner. I am so pleased this novel is on the list. My review of The Burrow is available on this blog. 

Santilla Chingaipe - Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia

When Australia was colonised, slaves were among those on the First Fleet in 1788. By 1840 there were 500 slaves in the colony. In this work of non-fiction, historian Chingaipe explores who these slaves were and how the nation's history has been whitewashed. 

Michelle de Krester - Theory and Practice 

This novel tells the story of a young woman in Melbourne in 1986. There to research the novels of Virginia Woolf, she meets Kit and her ambitions change. Acclaimed author de Krester has previously received the Miles Franklin Award twice - for Questions of Travel (2013) and The Life to Come (2018).

Dylin Hardcastle - A Language of Limbs 

Summer 1972 in Newcastle NSW. A teenage girl is in the throws of her first love, desiring her female best friend. Following these women over three decades, during a period where it was dangerous to be openly queer, this novel is about love, friendship and desire. This novel has been optioned for the screen.

Emily Maguire - Rapture 

I have just finished this wonderful novel and absolutely thrilled it is longlisted. Set in the ninth century, this historical novel is about Agnes, who disguises herself as a man and devotes herself to religious study as a Benedictine monk. Maguire is a phenomenal writer. My review will be posted on this blog shortly.

Amy McQuire - Black Witness 

Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist McQuire's essay collection has been described by the judges as a 'must-read for all engaged citizens, especially journalists who want to represent the fullness of contemporary Australia. 

Samah Sabawi - Cactus Pear for My Beloved 

This memoir is about a family from Gaza who fled Palestine to start a new life in Australia. Sabawi shares the story of her parents, and families in similar circumstances, forced to flee their homelands and the intergenerational trauma and displacement that comes with this experience. Sabawi is an author, playwright and poet. 

Mykaela Saunders - Always will Be 

Set in the Tweed, this collection of short stories reimagines a future in which Goori people have reasserted their sovereignty. She writes of people exerting self-determination and incorporating non-Indigenous people into their communities. Dr Mykaela Saunders is an award winning Koori/Goori and Lebanese author. This collection won the David Unpin award. 

Inga Simpson - The Thinning 

In this apocalyptic thriller, Fin and her mother live off the grid in an isolated camp in the Warrambungles. The planet is on the brink of collapsed, fertility rates have dramatically declined and species are becoming extinct.  Fin must travel across the Pilliga to a radio tower before time runs out. The judges described this novel as 'an electric and melancholy tale, disturbingly believable but ultimately - and surprisingly - hopeful.' Simpson is an acclaimed novelist and nature writer.

Cher Tan - Peripathetic 

This collection of essays is about work, being yourself, being online and much more. The judges write 'Funny and strange and breathing so fast, Peripathetic is a remarkable work. Tan has produced an utterly unique entry in Australian letters.' Born in Singapore, Tan lives in Adelaide and her work has been published widely. This is her first book.

For more information and the complete judges comments, see the Stella Prize website. 

I watched the livestream of the longlist announcement and was really disappointed that it had terrible audio and was clearly filmed on someone's phone. It was almost impossible to hear what was being announced. Quite a contrast to the announcements of the Women's Prize, which is so much more professionally done. 

This year's list seems like an improvement on recent years where the works were often obscure and unrelatable. I still wish that this focussed primarily on fiction, rather than other genres, but I am pleased to see half the titles are novels. 

Of the longlist, the titles I am most interested in are the works by de Krester, Hardcastle, Chingaipe, and Simpson. If I had to pick a shortlist - I would sincerely hope to see Cheng, Maguire and de Krester among those listed.

The Shortlist will be announced on 8 April 2025 with the winner of the $60,000 prize will be announced on 23 May 2025. 

The Velveteen Rabbit

Set in Melbourne during the end of the pandemic, Melanie Cheng's The Burrow (2024) is a beautifully written story about a family and their experiences of grief. 

Amy, Jin and their 10 year old daughter Lucie live a quiet life in isolation. At the outset we learn that this family is still navigating their loss, four years earlier, of six-month old Ruby who accidentally drowned in the bath. This tragedy has seen each family member turn inward - Jin focussing on his work as a doctor, Amy writing her second book, and Lucie trying to make herself as small as possible to escape the tension in the household. Then Amy's mother Pauline comes to stay in their granny flat, adding another layer of complexity.

Lucie has long wanted a pet. Her parents finally conceded, bringing home a small fawn coloured rabbit. They set up a hutch in the backyard and observe this timid creature as he sniffs around the garden. This little rabbit breaks the stagnant routine of their lives and sets forth a reconciliation of sorts as the family come to terms with their long-held and often unspoken grief.

Told in alternating chapters from the third person point of view of Amy, Jin, Lucie and Pauline, The Burrow could have been a depressing book about loss. Melanie Cheng's gentle prose and gifted storytelling elevates the story and showcases the realistic, everyday life of a normal family and the tender hope that holds them together. 

I loved The Burrow and thoroughly recommend it. Despite the sad themes, this is an uplifting, hopeful and heartwarming story. 

Women's Prize for Fiction 2025 - Longlist Predictions

The Longlist for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction will be announced in a few days - on 4 March 2025.  

I really love this award. It fuels my reading soul, introducing me to new authors and ideas. I have been mulling over what might make the list this year, and stock piling novels in anticipation. While I have no insider information and have not even pondered eligibility requirements, I have come up with an unscientific list of predictions for the 2025 Longlist.  

Here's what I reckon might make the list:

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Dream Count
• Kaliane Bradley - The Ministry of Time
• Clare Chambers - Shy Creatures
• Carys Davies - Clear
• Miranda July - All Fours
• Rachel Khong - Real Americans 
• Emily Maguire - Rapture
• Elizabeth O'Connor - Whale Fall 
• Sally Rooney - Intermezzo
• Elif Shafak - There are Rivers in the Sky
• Ali Smith - Gliff
• Anne Tyler - Three Days in June
• Yael Van Der Wouden - The Safekeep
• Evie Wyld - The Echoes

Of course, some of this may just be wishful thinking.... 

All shall be revealed in a couple of days, enough time for me to finish another title and prepare for my March reading. 

International Booker Longlist 2025

The International Booker Prize 2025 Longlist has been announced with thirteen titles of fiction translated into English.

The longlist is as follows:

• 
  A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre (translated by Mark Hutchison)
• On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer (translated by Lucy Scott)
• Heat Lamp by Banu Mushtaq (translated by Deepa Bhasthi)
• Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (translated by Sophie Hughes)
• Eurotrash by Christian Kracht (translated by Daniel Dowles)
• Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromo Kawakami (translated by Asa Yoneda)
• Hunchback by Saou Ichakawa (translated by Polly Barton)
• Small Bone by Vincent Delecroix (translated by Helen Stevenson)
• Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda (translated by Julis Sanches, Heather Cleary)
• Solenoid by Mircea Cartarescu (translated by Sean Colter)
• There's a Monster Behind the Door by Gaellle Belem (translated by Kareen Fleetwood, Laetitia Saint-Loubert)
• On the Calculation of Volume 1 by Solvej Balle (translated by Barbara J Haveland)
• The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem (translated by Sinan Antoon)

Max Porter, Chair of the judges writes of this longlist: 

'Translated fiction is not an elite or rarefied cultural space requiring expert knowledge; it is the exact opposite. It is stories of every conceivable kind from everywhere, for everyone. It is a miraculous way in which we might meet one another in all our strangeness and sameness, and defy the borders erected between us... 

‘In these books people are sharing strategies for survival; they are cheating, lying, joking and innovating. Some people are no longer of this earth, or they are sending visions from the future or from parallel universes. These books bring us into the agony of family, workplace or nation-state politics, the near-spiritual secrecy of friendship, the inner architecture of erotic feeling, the banality of capitalism and the agitations of faith.'

The prize awards £25,000 to the author and £25,000 to the translator, in recognition of the essential work of translators in bringing fiction to a wider audience. I need to read more translated fiction, so will be keen to investigate these titles further.

The shortlist of 6 titles will be announced on 8 April and the winner on 20 May 2025.

Pan's Labyrinth

I noticed Liz Moore's The God of the Woods (2024) as it had been on the New York Times bestseller list for many months and was in the mood for a mystery thriller.

It's August 1975 at Camp Emerson, a retreat on the Van Laar Preserve, in the Adirondacks of New York State. Camp counsellor Louise awakens to find one of the bunks empty and realises that the missing camper is Barbara Van Laar, the thirteen year old daughter of the family that owns the camp. A rapid search begins, made more urgent by the knowledge that fourteen years earlier Barbara's brother Bear Van Laar also disappeared from the property, and the fear that an escaped killer is on the loose. 

Told in alternating narratives and timelines, the story unfolds. Back in the 1950s we meet Alice, mother of Barbara and Bear. In 1961 volunteer firefighter Carl leads a search team looking for Bear. In 1975 camper Tracy is in awe of her bunkmate and navigating the first feelings of a crush. Also in 1975 Judy, the young police investigator, is working the case.  

The Van Laars are a wealthy family who throw an annual party at Self Reliance, their home in the Van Laar Preserve. This is a weekend of alcohol-fuelled games for the Van Laar's glamorous guests. Barbara does not fit in here. She is rebellious, into punk rock, and knows little is expected of her as a girl in a patriarchal family. Her mother, Alice, doesn't fit in either. She is anxious and drinks too much to quell her nerves. 

The God of the Woods is a page-turning mystery, with its twists and turns, but it is so much more than that. There is a story here about class - the haves and have nots - as evidenced by the Van Laars and their guests contrasting with the blue-collar workers on the Preserve. There is also a subtext of gender and societal expectations of girls and women. Moore has created characters who grow on the reader - TJ, Louise, Judyta - as the story unfurls. Plus, Moore has so clearly portrayed the setting of Camp Emerson, that readers who have spent time at a sleep-away camp will be gripped by nostalgia for campfires and mess halls.

I really enjoyed this novel and the ways in which Moore built the suspense. I was also satisfied by the ending, though I can understand why some readers may want a different outcome. While reading I also listened to the audiobook expertly narrated by Saskia Maarlevald. Overall, a terrific read. I hope that Moore writes another novel feature investigator Judyta Luptack, a wonderful character who deserves a series of her own. 

Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Longlist 2025

The second annual Women's Prize for Non-Fiction longlist has been revealed! This prize celebrates non-fiction written by women. The Winner will receive £30,000. Sixteen works of non-fiction were longlisted.

The 2025 longlist is as follows:

Anne Applebaum - Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World

This is a timely book that I am keen to read. Journalist and historian Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Gulag: A History (2003), turns her attention to the corrupt networks that infiltrate governments. Given what is happening in America right now, this feels like an urgent road map to return to democracy. 

Eleanor Barraclough - Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age

We often associate Vikings with strong warriors plundering villages.  In fact, the people of the Viking Age were much more diverse. This book looks at the day-to-day lives of the Viking people and their culture. Author Barraclough is a historian and broadcaster who previously published Beyond the Northlands: Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas (2016).

Helen Castor - The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry 

First cousins, Richard and Henry were born three months apart. As children, Richard was crowned King, and Henry served at his side. Despite their close upbringing, they were opposites: Richard a narcissist and Henry a chivalric hero. Fearful, Richard banished his cousin, leading the pair to a confrontation. Acclaimed medieval and Tudor historian Castor, is also the author of She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (2010).

Nenah Cherry - A Thousand Threads

Swedish singer-songwriter Cherry achieved global success with 'Buffalo Stance' in 1988. She went on to have a lauded career, winning awards for her music. Cherry has now written a memoir of her life as an artist, and the people who influenced her. 

Rachel Clarke - The Story of a Heart

Palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke, is the author of three bestselling non-fiction books. Here she writes about nine-year-old Keira who was in a devastating car accident. Keira's brain and organs began to shut down, but her heart continued to beat. Her family agreed to donate her heart and it was gifted to nine-year old Max. Clarke tells this story of grief and a lifesaving gift.

Chloe Dalton - Raising Hare

During lockdown, Dalton retreated to the countryside of her childhood and found herself the custodian of a newborn hare. This book is the story of nurturing the animal and preparing it for release in the wild. Dalton is a political adviser and foreign policy specialist who has spent a decade in the UK public service. This is her debut book.

Jenni Fagan - Ootlin

Fagan was born in state care in Scotland and by age seven had lived in fourteen different homes. In her memoir, Fagan described her experiences of displacement and exclusion on her journey through the UK care system. Novelist and poet. Fagan is the author of novels The Panopticon (2013), The Sunlight Pilgrims (2016), Luckenbooth (2021) and Hex (2022).

Lulu Miller - Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love and the Hidden Order of Life

In her debut book, science reporter Miller explores the work of David Starr Jordan, a 19th century taxonomist. Jordan was a fish specialist mapping out the taxonomy on fish when an earthquake shatters his specimen collection. Besides his work as a scientist, Jordan was also a champion of eugenics and president of Stanford University.

Clare Mulley - Agent Zo: The Untold Story of Fearless WW2 Resistance Fighter Elzbieta Zawacka

Historian Mulley has a keen interest in the experience of women in the Second World War. Here she tells the story of Zo, an emissary of the Polish Home Army Command who travelled from Warsaw to London. Zo was the only female member of the elite Polish Special Forces. The Gestapo arrested her family when the Nazis occupied Poland. She also took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising. Sounds like an incredible story of a remarkable woman.

Rebecca Nagle - By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land

Award-winning journalist and Cherokee woman Nagle book is about the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands throughout American history. In 2020 a Supreme Court ruling in Sharp v Murphy affirmed that tribal lands are "Indian country" and any crimes committed on these lands are not subject to state prosecution. Nagle traces the long fight for sovereignty in Eastern Oklahoma.

Sue Prideaux - Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gaugin

Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gaugin is best known for his colourful paintings of French Polynesia. In this biography, Prideaux writes about his career as a stockbroker in Paris, a tarpaulin salesman in Copenhagen, a canal digger in Panama, and other diverse endeavours as well as his life as an artist. Prideaux has previously written biographies of Edvard Munch, Strindberg, Friedrich Nietzsche.

Helen Scales - What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean

Marine biologist and author, Scales explores the future of the ocean by looking at the past and how the prehistoric ocean ecology has lessons for today. Despite the devastating impact of climate change, Scales is hopeful that protection of the ocean and marine life combined with sustainable industry will protect the ocean for future generations.

Kate Summerscale - The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place

Bestselling author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (2008),  award-winning author Kate Summerscale has turned her attention to another grizzly crime. In London in 1953 police discover the bodies of three young women inside a wall at a Notting Hill terrace. Exploring further they find bones beneath the floorboards and in the garden. A manhunt is launched to find a former tenant Reg Christie. But is he the killer?

Harriet Wistrich - Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men

Solicitor and advocate for women's justice, Harriet Wistrich, has acted in many high profile cases involving violence against women. In this book she explores landmark cases that demonstrate how the legal system is skewed towards men. I have a keen interest in gender and justice and look forward to reading this account of Wistrich's career in law.

Alexis Wright - Tracker

I am thrilled that Waanyi author Alexis Wright has been recognised for her Stella Prize winning memoir of Aboriginal Tracker Tilmouth. Part of Australia's shameful Stolen Generation past, Tracker was raised on a mission on Corker Island and grew up to become a well-regarded activist and advocate. Using oral history and storytelling from Aboriginal folk who knew him, Wright has crafted a memoir of a remarkable man.

Yuan Yang - Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in New China

As the first Chinese-born British MP, Yuan Yang lived in China for four years before she moved to the UK. As an adult she returned as a journalist. Here, in her first book, she tells the stories of four Chinese women aspiring for a better future. China is evolving in the modern era and the role of women is changing with it. Sounds like an interesting portrait of women and a nation.

The Chair of the Judges, Kavita Puri, said of the Longlist:

'What unites these diverse titles, that boast so many different disciplines and genres, is the accomplishment of the writing, the originality of the storytelling and the incisiveness of the research. Here are books that provoke debate and discussion, that offer insight into new experiences and perspectives, and that bring overlooked stories back to life and recognition. Amongst this stellar list, there are also reads that expertly steer us through the most pressing issues of our time, show the resilience of the human spirit, alongside others that elucidate the dangers of unchecked power, the consequence of oppression and the need for action and defiance.'

I have not read any of these titles, but I have a keen interest in the books by Applebaum, Mulley, Nagle and Wistrich. Some are not yet available in Australia so I will have to wait to track them down.

The shortlist will be announced on 26 March 2025 and the winner will be revealed on 12 June 2025. Happy reading!

Want more? Here is the video of the Longlist announcement.

Possession

One of the novels I most wanted to read from the 2024 Booker Prize Shortlist was Yael Van Der Wouden's The Safe Keep (2024). Set in a rural area of the Netherlands, it is fifteen years after the end of the Second World War. The buildings have been reconstructed after the damage of war, but the people still bear deep scars.

It is 1961 and Isabel lives by herself in the serene country home she and her brothers moved to during the war. She cared for her mother until her death and now cares for her house with the same discipline. Isabel has had help in the form of various housekeepers, but is constantly on the look out for someone stealing from her. 

Her brothers left home long ago. Louis lives a bachelor's life with a series of girlfriends. As the eldest is the heir to the home, and plans to allow Isabel to live there until he marries. Younger brother Hendrik is gay, living a closeted life with his partner Sebastian. The three siblings have occasional dinners together but are not particularly close.

Isabel's solitary life of routine is disrupted when Louis drops off his latest girlfriend to live in the house when he travels for work. Eva is the complete opposite of Isabel - charismatic, curious, free. Isabel immediately dislikes the girl and the invasion of her sacred space. Isabel is annoyed that Eva sleeps in her late mother's bed, that she is friendly with the housekeeper, that she touches things in the house. Isabel is openly hostile to her, rather than a gracious host. Over the next few weeks, Eva attempts to get to know Isabel and is rebuffed, often quote rudely, at every turn. Both are uneasy in each other's presence, yet they are drawn together. If Isabel can loosen her self-restraint, she may just find some of the freedom she so admires in others.

In her debut novel, Van Der Wouden has crafted a story about ownership and possession. Isabel is entrenched in a house which she knows she will never own and can be ousted anytime her brother chooses. Isabel carefully counts each teaspoon and obsesses over the Delft plates in the cabinet. They are her only companions. Eva views these possessions quite differently and appears, to Isabel, to be completely untethered to anything or anyone.

Van Der Wouden has created believable characters with nuance and tenderness. Isabel initially comes across as restrained, unyielding and unlikeable. Eva appears superficial and frivolous. But as the story unfolds, and the tensions between them grow, Isabel's hardness begins to crack and she begins a sexual awakening. Likewise Eva reveals hidden depths. The first two parts focus mainly on Isabel. In Part III there is a narrative shift as we read Eva's diaries and get her perspective on past events. There is a wonderful twist and forces readers to see both women in a new light. 

With great skill, the author navigates the post-war reckoning and the legacy of loss and dispossession. The characters were all children during the war, impacted in different ways. Now in their late twenties, there remains a lingering trauma which manifests in different ways for each. 

The Safe Keep is such a good novel. I was engrossed in the story and continued to think about the characters long after I had finished reading. 

Party Time

With a federal election looming in Australia, George Megalogenis' Quarterly Essay (QE96) Minority Report - The New Shape of Australian Politics (2024) is a timely exploration of the Australian political landscape. 

In Minority Report, Megalogenis takes a look at how the electorate is shifting away from the duopoly of Labor and the Coalition to a broader, more representative government. Younger voters in particular are not rusted-on voters to any party, are sceptical about politics, and have a wider range of interests.  The rise of the Teal independents - brilliantly explained in Margot Saville's The Teal Revolution (2022) - has made Australian politics far more interesting and diverse.

Megalogenis argues that a shift began in the Australian electorate with the 2010 election and the end of the historic 40-40-20 rule. This rule held that Labor and the Coalition would each score 40% of the vote and the remaining 20% was made up by minority parties and independents. Indeed the Liberal Party would not survive outside of its decades-long Liberal-National Coalition. The pendulum has swung away from the major parties and it is unlikely to return back to the two-party dominance of the past.

The other shift which has occurred is power moving from Queensland and Western Australia (where the electorate is predominately regional/rural) to more urban, younger and multicultural areas. The dynamic, diverse cities of Melbourne and Sydney will determine the outcome of the next election.

Melalogenis argues that Albanese is pursuing a strategy of building trust and consolidating power in his first term, and then pursuing reform in his second term. But, the failure of the voice referendum (a devastating rejection of our First Nations people that I will never get over), has made Albanese more timid and less ambitious. His opponent is well versed in the politics of 'No' and is growing more Trumpian each day. 

The reform success of past governments is explored. Hawke/Keating brought forth Medicare, superannuation, immigration and closer ties with Asia. Gillard created the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Howard took the GST to the electorate and brought in gun reform. Albanese sought to do this with the Voice to Parliament, but needed the support of the Opposition. 

Housing is the big issue in the electorate, especially in Melbourne and Sydney where median house prices have exploded but supply has not kept up with demand. Older generations, especially those who have acquired multiple properties as investments, want to hold and pass down their wealth. Younger generations have long since given up the idea of owning property as they have been priced out of the market. Housing is in need of bold reform, not tinkering at the edges. Alan Kohler spoke of this in his excellent Quarterly Essay 92 - The Great Divide (2023). 

Politics requires a vision for the future and a willingness to negotiate to get things done. It is highly likely that whoever wins the next election will face a hung parliament and will need to work with the crossbench. Prime Minister Julia Gillard worked with independents to bring about positive change. 

Megalogenis concludes his essay with optimism, sharing his view 'that a hung parliament offers our last best chance to restore purpose to our politics - and policymaking' (p65). We won't have to wait too long for the election to be called and to see whether this view holds up. I hope it does. 

Another quality Quarterly Essay - so glad I subscribe to this publication! My review of George Megalogenis' Quarterly Essay 61 - Balancing Act (2016) is also available on this blog.

Shetland

From 1750 to around 1860 landowners in Scotland evicted tenants from their land in the Scottish Highlands and Islands in what is known as the Highland Clearances. Landowners sought to increase their income by converting small plots of land farmed by multiple tenants into larger fields for pastoral farming. The displaced tenants were relocated and encouraged to take up other work like fishing. In the later years of the Clearances, landowners expelled tenants or assisted them to emigrate.

The Clearances are the backdrop for Carys Davies' remarkable novel Clear (2024). Set in 1843, Clear tells the story of John Ferguson, a minister who has recently broken away from the Scottish Church to be part of the new Free Church of Scotland. Without the backing of his former parish, Ferguson has no income and needs to find a means of caring for himself and his wife Mary while he establishes his new existence as a minister. Ferguson's brother-in-law puts him in touch with a landowner's factor who offers to pay him to evict the last remaining inhabitant on a remote island in the Northern Isles. 

Ferguson arrives on the island with one change of clothes, a pistol, some basic supplies, a slice of Mary's fruitcake and a small, leather-framed calotype photo of his beloved wife. He has one month until the Lily Rose returns to convince the tenant to return to the mainland. Of course Ferguson is best suited to the streets of Penicuik and Perth, not the rugged landscape of a remote island. He makes his way to the basic Baillie cottage where he is to reside on the island. 

Ivar has lived alone since his family left the island years ago. He has a solitary existence with only his animals for companions. When Ferguson and Ivar finally meet, the two do not have a common language. The illiterate Ivar peaks Norn (now extinct), which bears no resemblance to English or Scots. Ferguson is eager to learn, and writes the words Ivar teaches him, forming a dictionary which allows them to communicate. Ferguson revels in the words for different cloud formations, waves and types of rocks. Over the days they spend together, the men form an incredible bond. But time is not on their side. The ship will be returning at the end of the month. Will Ferguson tell Ivar why he is there? Will Ivar leave his home? Will their companionship endure?

Carys Davies is a gifted storyteller. At only 150 pages long, Davies conveys depth and emotion with a concise choice of words. This is a story of loneliness, friendship, and language. Clear is a brilliant novel which can be read in one sitting. I love Clear and look forward to seeking out Davies' previous works - West (2018) and The Mission House (2020).

Dublin Literary Award Longlist 2025

The longlist for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award has just been announced. Seventy-one books have been nominated by 83 libraries from 34 countries. I don't normally write about this award, but it is a delicious list of titles.

The 2025 Longlist is:

1. Pip Adam - Audition
2. 
   Kaveh Akbar - Martyr!
3. Selva Almada - Not a River
4. Stefani Auci - The Triumph of the Lions
5. Muriel Barbery - One Hour of Fervor
6. Colin Barrett - Wild Houses
7. Lou Berney - Dark Ride
8. Sarah Bernstein - Study for Obedience
9. Gerda Blees - We Are Light
10. Maya Binyam - Hangman
11. Ivana Bodrozic - Sons, daughters
12. Meihan Boey - The Enigmatic Madam Ingram 
13. John Boyne - Water
14. 
    Rita Bullwinkel - Headshot
15. Dulce Maria Cardoso - Eliete: A Normal Life
16. Steven Caroll - Death of a Foreign Gentleman 
17. Yagsze Choo - The Fox Wife
18. Michael Crummey - The Adversary
19. David Diop - Beyond the Door of No Return
20. Elisa Shua Dusapin - Vladivostok Circus
21. Percival Everett - James
22. Laurence Fearnley - At the Grand Glacier Hotel
23. Dominique Fortier - Pale Shadows
24. Ia Genberg - The Details
25. Sinead Gleeson - Hagstone
26. Norhafsah Hamid - If Only You Remember
27. Kristin Hannah - The Women
28. Siamak Herawi - Tali Girls: A Novel of Afghanistan
29. Catherine Hernandez - Behind You
30. Bo-reum Hwang - Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
31. 
    Frida Isberg - The Mark
32. Howard Jacobson - What Will Survive of Us
33. Michel Jean - Kukum
34. Juhani Karila - Fishing for the Little Pike
35. Shubnum Khan - The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil
36. Nicole Lagioia - The City of the Living
37. Ariel Lawhon - The Frozen River
38. Aube Rey Lescure - River East, River West
39. Hilary Leichter - Terrance Story
40. Catherine Leroux - The Future
41. Melissa Lucashenko - Edenglassie
42. Paul Lynch - Prophet Song
43. John Marrs - The Family Experiment
44. Daniel Mason - North Woods
45. James McBride - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
46. 
    Sara Mesa - Un Amor
47. Elizabeth O'Connor - Whale Fall
48. Nuala O'Connor - Seaborne
49. Andrew O'Hagan - Caledonian Road
50. Chigozie Obioma - The Road to the Country
51. Orla Owen - Christ on a Bike
52. LJ Pemberton - Still Alive 
53. Emily Perkins - Lioness
54. Sebastijan Pregelj - In Elvis' Room
55. Lucas Rijneveld - My Heavenly Favourite
56. Deborah Rodriguez - Farewell to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul
57. Mohmed Mbougar Sarr - The Most Secret Memory of Men
58. Lutz Seiler - Star 111
59. Umar Abubakar Sidi - The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus
    
60. Sheyla Smanioto - Out of Earth
61. Ingrid Storholmen - Here Lay Tirpitz
62. Vikas Swaroop - The Girl with Seven Lives
63. Morgan Talty - Fire Exit
64. Colm Toibin - Long Island
65. Andrea Tompa - Home
66. Justin Torres - Blackouts
67. Christos Tsiolkas - The In-Between
68. Tanguy Viel - The Girl You Call
69. Douglas Westerbeke - A Short Walk Through a Wide World
70. Don Winslow - City in Ruins
71. Charlotte Wood - Stone Yard Devotional

Of these titles I have read and loved: James, Long Island, and Stone Yard Devotional.   On my list to read are the novels by Hannah, Lucashenko, Leroux, Lynch, O'Hagan, and Tsiolkas.

Many of these books are familiar to me from awards last year. Several titles were on the Booker Prize Longlist in 2024 - Barrett, Bullwinkel, Everett, and Wood, with Paul Lynch winning the Booker in 2023 for Prophet Song. Lucashenko's Edenglassie was on the 2024 Stella Prize Longlist, while the novels by Binyam and Lescure were on the 2024 Women's Prize Longlist. The translated novels by Almada and Genberg were on the International Booker Longlist in 2024.

It is wonderful to see Australian authors like Wood, Lucashenko and Tsiolkas doing well overseas. 

Of the longest, the Patron of the Award - the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Emma Blain said:

“For over 30 years The Dublin Literary Award has connected readers through the best of fiction from around the world. I am delighted to see that this year’s longlist continues to reflect the breadth of imagination we associate with the award showcasing cultures, traditions and unique perspectives.”

The Shortlist will be announced on 25 March 2025 with the winner of the 100,000 Euro prize declared on 22 May 2025. Happy Reading!

Sunshine Sketches

Elizabeth Strout is an acclaimed American writer, best known for her Lucy Barton books and Olive Kitteridge novels.  I have many of her books, which have been recommended to me by friends and fellow book bloggers, and they have appeared on many longlists of literary prizes. Yet somehow I have never read them.

I decided to begin my Strout experience with Olive Kitteridge (2008), her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, told through thirteen connected short stories. 

It begins with 'Pharmacy', focussed on Henry Kitteridge, and his shop in the fictional New England town of Crosby. Henry hires a young assistant, Denise Thibodeau, whom his wife describes as 'mousy'.  Henry thrives in the simplicities of his daily life, meeting townsfolk and serving customers alongside Denise. At home however, his wife Olive is domineering. A math teacher at the local junior high school and volunteer in the community, Olive can be curt and cold. 

The following stories about other townsfolk give glimpses of Olive at a funeral reception, at church, or in town, In other stories Olive has a starring role, visiting her son or spending time with Henry at the nursing home. We learn how she once fell for another married teacher, about her strained relationship with her son, and about Henry's ill health. 

In Olive, Elizabeth Strout has created a wonderful character.  Opinionated, stubborn and gruff, Olive could be unlikable. But below the surface she has wells of empathy and a desire to for love. Her strained relationship with her son is heartbreaking, especially as Henry's health deteriorates and she has to do more on her own. Olive also has a delightful turn of phrase, not shy about expressing her feelings. Olive is the cranky neighbour you avoid, but if you got to know her you would realise she is merely lonely and in need of connection. 

What Strout does so well is show how ordinary people deal with their daily lives. She realistically presents each character's thoughts and feelings and gives the reader a sense of place. It made me think a lot about loneliness, relationships and aging. I also found myself wanting to know what happened to characters in each story. Did Angela from 'The Piano Player' find happiness? What did Kevin Coulson do after his conversation with Olive in 'Incoming Tide'? Did Marlene ever travel to a destination in her 'Basket of Trips'? 

The style of interlinked short stories is wonderful. Jennifer Egan has used that form to great effect in A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010) and The Candy House (2022). I love this way of bringing a novel together like crocheted squares that combine to form a beautiful blanket. 

I am so glad to have read Olive Kitteridge and delighted that I have a full catalogue of Elizabeth Strout books to explore. 

Olive Kitteridge has been made into a mini-series by HBO in 2014 starring Frances McDormand as Olive, Richard Jenkins as her husband Henry. Now that I have read this book, I will seek out the series.