Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Shortlist 2025

The shortlist for the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction has been announced. The five titles vying for this prize are:

• Dominique Fortier  (Rhonda Mullins, translator) - Pale Shadows
• Miranda July  - All Fours
• Canisia Lubrin - Code Noir
• Sarah Manguso - Liars
• Aube Rey Lescure - River East, River West

I have only read the novel by Miranda July and am rooting for this wonderful book to win!

The winner will be announced on 1 May 2025 and will receive $150,000 USD while the four shortlisted finalist receive $12,500 each. If Pale Shadows wins, Fortier will receive $100,000 USD and translator Mullins will receive $50,000. 

Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist 2025

The 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist has been announced!  The six titles on the shortlist are:

• Good Girl by Aria Amber

• All Fours by Miranda July

• The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji

• Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

• The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

• Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

Kit de Waal, Chair of Judges, said of the shortlist:

Our selection celebrates rich, multi-layered narratives that will surprise, move and delight the reader, all drawing on, in different ways, the importance of human connection. What is surprising and refreshing is to see so much humour, nuance and lightness employed by these novelists to shed light on challenging concepts.

I have read half of the shortlisted titles -  Miranda July's delicious All Fours, Elizabeth Strout's heartwarming Tell Me Everything, and Yael van der Wouden's intriguing The Safekeep - and loved each of them. 

 

When the Longlist was announced in March, I predicted that July, Strout and van der Wouden would make the shortlist, but missed with my pick of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Will need to track down the remaining shortlisted titles. If I had to pick a winner, I would choose All Fours - Miranda July's novel is the one I have most recommended to friends.

To learn more about these shortlisted titles, there is a summary on each book on my blog, and the judges have released a short video announcing the shortlist below. You can also read interviews with the authors on the Women's Prize website.

The winner will be revealed on 12 June 2025. Better get reading!

Best Friends Forever

'Second book syndrome' is a phenomenon which occurs when writers achieve success with their first novel and then struggle with their second. The author is plagued by self-doubt and writers block, when they eventually publish, the book is seen as a shadow of the first. Hayley Scrivenor's second novel, Girl Falling (2024), definitely feels like a case of this syndrome. 

I really wanted to love this book. Scrivenor's first novel, Dirt Town (2022) was an incredible, best-selling crime thriller, which has received acclaim in Australia and internationally. Unfortunately, Girl Falling, doesn't have the same appeal.

Set in the Blue Mountains, Girl Falling is narrated by Finn Young, a bisexual woman in her late twenties. She has lived her whole life in a town called Indra, surrounded by spectacular scenery. She grew up poor, had a hard time at school, missed an opportunity to see the world, and now works in a cafe and as a tour guide. Her best friend since childhood is perky blond Daphne, who grew up in more affluent circumstances and has gone off to university in Sydney. While in school, both lost their younger sisters to suicide, and this bonded them together as best friends forever. 

Finn meets Magdu, an Indian foreign student, and they fall in love. Magdu has not come out to her family and struggles to figure out how to introduce them to Finn, the woman she wants to marry. When Daphne returns home, the three are caught in an awkward triangle. To smooth relations, Finn takes Daphne and Magdu rock climbing with devastating results. Magdu falls to her death. Was it an accident, murder or suicide?

The death occurs in the opening chapter. The novel then alternates between the current timeline in which an investigation into Magdu's death unfolds, and the past when Finn looks back on her relationships with both women. In doing so we learn more about Finn's life, the hold that Daphne has over her and the freedom that Magdu represents. 

I appreciated Scrivenor's ability to build the tension and land a nice twist at the end. I also liked that queer characters take centre stage, and feel like she captured the beauty of the Blue Mountains well. However, the characters are not fully formed. Daphne is shallow, narcissistic and one dimensional. Finn herself comes across as a bit of a bumbling loser. Magdu serves as a moral compass in this trio. The mothers of the three also make an appearance and I would have been interested to have more interaction between them. The actual death is a bit complicated too. I think you need to understand rock climbing to fully get what is happening here (if I never hear the word 'belay' again it will be too soon).

Ultimately, I enjoyed this novel but would not rave about it. While it was no Dirt Town, Scrivenor has talent and I look forward to reading whatever comes next from this Australian author. 

Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlist 2025

The shortlist of the 2025 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist has been announced, whittling the sixteen titles on the longlist down to a shortlist of six. 

The 2025 shortlist is as follows:

• 
  Neneh Cherry - A Thousand Threads
  
• Rachel Clarke - The Story of a Heart
• Chloe Dalton - Raising Hare
• Clare Mulley - Agent Zo: The Untold Story of Courageous WW2 Resistance Fighter Elzbieta Zawacka
• Helen Scales - What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean
• Yuan Yang - Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in New China

To be honest, I am pretty unexcited by this shortlist. Other than Clare Mulley's Agent Zo, all the books on this year's longlist that interested me have fallen by the wayside. Sorry that Alexis Wright's Tracker didn't make the cut as it would be great for her work to be more widely known. 

The winner of the £30,000 prize will be revealed on 12 June 2025. Happy reading!

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

Dublin Literary Award Shortlist 2025

The Dublin Literary Award Shortlist has just been announced. A mammoth seventy-one longlisted titles has been whittled down to six. 

The 2025 shortlist is: 

• Selva Almada - Not a River
• Gerda Blees - We Are Light
• Michael Crummey - The Adversary
• Percival Everett - James
• Paul Lynch - Prophet Song
• Daniel Mason - North Woods

The winner will be announced on 22 May 2025 and will take home the 100,000 Euro prize. 

If I had a say, the winner would be Percival Everett for James. Undoubtedly the best novel I have read in years!

Dismantling Democracy

Recently longlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, journalist and historian Anne Applebaum's Autocracy Inc. - The Dictators who want to run the World (2024) is a frighteningly timely look at global affairs. 

If one were to compile a list of modern day autocrats, names like Putin, Orban, Erdogan, and Modi come to mind. Increasingly, so does Trump, as he seemingly has no checks and balances in his complete disregard for the rule of law. But as Applebaum points out, it is not just strongmen who run the world. There is an entire interconnected system of corporations, militaries, and alliances that allow autocrats to flourish. Dictators shield other dictators and help them test the boundaries of their powers. They also deal with each other, trading oil, weapons, and information to prop up their regimes. Together they are untouchable; unstoppable forces which shamelessly silence their critics and hide behind a false promise of democracy. 

Autocracy Inc thrives with media support. In Chapter III "Controlling the Narrative", Applebaum shows how news outlets have sprung up in recent years to propaganda and fake news. Social media has amplified their reach. She shows how Russia has created false profiles to spread misinformation about Ukraine and disrupt politics in the United States. In China the 'great firewall' stops access to parts the intranet and its internal propaganda controls information about Taiwan. Authoritarian regime use these tools of propaganda to disrupt, push false narratives, and move people to the extremes. 

Applebaum does a great job of showing how autocrats have a common enemy in 'the West', shunning alliances like NATO or the EU, questioning the legitimacy of institutions like the UN, the World Bank, and the International Criminal Court. Of course now the West has its own autocrat. This book was published prior to Trump's election for a second term, and his first fifty days in office have seen him pull out the playbook used by Putin et al to dismantle democracy and unleash chaos, conspiracy and doubt.

Despite the brevity of this short book, Applebaum paints a compelling portrait of what is happening in parts of the world. Yet after being bombarded with depressing facts about the global state of affairs, Applebaum gives a glimmer of hope. She points to solutions like reforming the financial system by requiring greater transparency for trusts, property purchase and companies. Nevertheless, as much as we need optimism right now, what we need more is courage and the resilience to put up the fight against autocracy. The stakes are too high to remain silent.

Ghosts of the Past

Anglo-Australian author Evie Wyld won the prestigious Miles Franklin award in 2014 for her novel All the Birds, Singing and in 2021 won the Stella Prize for The Bass Rock - a novel I absolutely loved. So I was eager to read her fourth novel, The Echoes (2024), recently shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction.

Set in London and Wangkatha Country in Western Australia, The Echoes is a non-linear novel told across multiple timelines. The novel opens with a chapter narrated by Max, a ghost of a man who is has recently been killed. He is trapped in the afterlife in his apartment, observing his partner in her grief. The story then shifts to earlier, in contemporary London, Hannah is an Australian barmaid in her early thirties. Her relationship with Max, a lecturer in creative writing, is strained as after six years together she still holds deep secrets about her past. Hannah grew up in a dysfunctional family in Western Australia, living on a property called The Echoes which was previously used as a reform school during the forced removal of the Stolen Generations. She had a miserable childhood and has isolated herself from her parents. 

Wyld has structured the novel with chapter titles signalling the narrative voice. 'After' chapters are from Max's perspective as a ghost trying to piece together the mystery of Hannah. 'Before' chapters are told from Hannah's point of view, in the months leading up to Max's death. 'Then' chapters are from Hannah's childhood. Interspersed between the cycle of after/before/then there are chapters named after characters - Hannah's mother, Uncle Tone, Mr Manningtree who lives on the property - which fill in the story and provide a different perspective. As the story progresses, we come to understand the reasons why Hannah is estranged from her family and does not want to talk about it with Max.

I really struggled with The Echoes and found it hard to engage with. There is no doubt that Wyld is a gifted writer - her prose is beautiful. The subject matter is rather bleak, but there was a lot of material here to make a compelling story. Ultimately, I found the characters unlikable and the structure jarring. While I appreciate what Wyld was attempting to do with this novel, unfortunately it didn't work for me. 

My reviews of Evie Wyld's previous novel, Bass Rock (2020), is also available on this blog. 

The Crosby Show

Elizabeth Strout returns to the fictional town of Crosby, Maine in the fifth instalment of her Amgash series, Tell Me Everything (2024). Normally I like to read a series in order, but I am a newcomer to the Strout universe having only read her Olive Kitteridge (2008) novel this year. I had intended to start this series, but when I heard Tell Me Everything was longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction, I figured I would start at the end and see how it stands up as a novel for those unfamiliar with the series.

Semi-retired lawyer Bob Burgess is happily married to Margaret, a local minister, and has a deep, platonic friendship with writer Lucy Barton. Barton came to Crosby a few years earlier from New York. Bob is able to confide in Lucy and tell her things he could never talk about with his wife. They go for regular walks together and enjoy each other's company.

Olive Kitteridge is now 90 years old and lives in the Maple Tree Apartments retirement community. She asks Bob to introduce her to Lucy and says she has a story to tell the writer, known to be interested in hearing tales of unrecorded lives. Lucy listens intently while Olive shares a story of unforgotten love. 

Bob takes on a case defending a troubled man accused of murdering his mother. Bob is a pure soul who helps this man in a multitude of ways. Lucy calls Bob a 'sineater' as he takes the burdens of others. But this is no murder mystery, the case is an opportunity for Strout to explore her central thesis that you can never truly know yourself or others. 

Bob is central to this novel. Through him we meet his ex-wife Pam, his brother Jim and others in his orbit. He is such a good soul, caring for isolated people in the community, like delivering groceries to elderly people. In many ways he holds his family and the community together. Through brief vignettes, we learn more of the successes and failures of their lives, their regrets and roads not taken. 

I absolutely loved this novel. It was wonderful to meet up with Olive Kitteridge again and to be introduced to all these other characters. I now understand why Strout has such a following. 

So, can Tell Me Everything be enjoyed by readers who haven't read the other books in the series? Absolutely. Strout gives snippets of back story to help readers along. It may be a richer experience for those who have been on the journey since the beginning, but I never felt that I was missing out. But what I did feel was a yearning for more. I expect it won't be too long before I crack the spine on another Strout novel. I may even start at the beginning...

Carol Shields Prize for Fiction 2025 Longlist

American-born Canadian author Carol Shields is best known for award winning novels The Stone Diaries (1993), Larry's Party (1997), Unless (2002) although she also wrote plays, short stories and non-fiction. In 2023 an award was created in her memory to 'celebrate creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States.' Past winners were:

• 2024 - Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan
• 2023 - When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

Now in its third year, the longlist has been revealed with the following titles:

Eliza Barry Callahan - The Hearing Test

A twenty-something artist wakes one morning to discover she is deaf in her right ear. With the potential for total deafness looming, she records her year - who she meet, what she does - to make sense of what is happening for her. Callahan is a New York based writer, filmmaker and musician. She teaches at Columbia University.  The Hearing Test is her first novel.

V Efua Prince - Kin: Practically True Stories

Kin is a tree that shelters women seeking respite during family-making. In this series of short stories, the labour of women is explored, observing women's lives through time. V Efua Prince is a professor of African American Studies and the author of Burnin' Down the House: Home in African American Literature.

Anne Fleming- Curiosities

In this novel, Anne is an amateur historian who is obsessed with 1600s England. She has stumbled across a memoir that tells of two survivors in a village ravaged by the plague, and what happens to this pair after the event.  Fleming is an author of short stories, novels, poetry, and children's books. She teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia.

Dominque Fortier - Pale Shadows

Translated by Rhonda Mullins, this novel tells the story of three women who sought to compile and publish the poetry of Emily Dickinson after her death. Fortier is a French-Canadian author and award-winning translator. 

Miranda July - All Fours

An artist leaves her family in Los Angeles to drive across the country for a work trip but only makes it as far as a motel twenty minutes away. Consumed by her fear of life after menopause, she sets out to explore her sexual fantasies before it is too late. All Fours was also recently longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction. July is on a roll! My review is available on this blog.

Mubanga Kalimamukwento - Obligations to the Wounded

This collection of short stories explores womanhood in Zambia and for Zambian women living abroad. Despite the difference between the women and girls in these tales, they all share a common cultural heritage and homeland. Kalimamukwento is a Zambian attorney and writer based in the USA. Her first novel was The Mourning Bird.

Oonya Kempadoo - Naniki

Montreal-based, English, Guyanese and Granadian author Kempadoo's novel is about the Caribbean Sea and its shape-shifting sea beings. The Naniki are active spirits or animal avatars who are tasked with sourcing First People's knowledge.

Rachel Kushner - Creation Lake 

Undercover agent Sadie Smith is sent to infiltrate a commune of eco-activists in France. She meets the commune's charismatic leader Bruno Lacombe, who seeks to return society to the ancient past. Shortlisted for the Booker in 2024, Kushner is nest known for her internationally best selling novels The Mars Room and The Flamethrowers.

Canisia Lubrin - Code Noir

In 1685 France's King Louis XIV signed a set of historical decrees known as the "Code Noir" which set the conditions for slavery in French colonies. This collection of short stories explore these decrees in genre-bending tales. Lubrin is based in Whitby, Ontario and is nest known for her books Voodoo Hypothesis and The Dyzgraphxst. 

Sarah Manguso - Liars 
Aspiring writer Jane meets filmmaker John and their relationship appears to be all she could ever desire. After a few years of marriage and motherhood, her creative passions are put on hold while she raises their family and supports his career. Manguso is the author of nine books, best known for her novel Very Cold People.

Erica McKeen - Cicada Summer
In the midst of a heatwave in the summer of 2020, the sound of cicadas is the backdrop to Husha's mourning her mother's death.  Sheltering from COVID in a lakeside cabin in remote Ontario, Husha cares for her ailing grandfather and is joined by her ex-partner. Together they discover her mother's writing. Vancouver based McKeen is also the author of Tear.

Julia Phillips - Bear 
Sam and her sister Elena were born and raised on an island off the coast of Washington. Both women work in service of the wealthy, Sam on the island ferry and Elena at the golf club bar. One night Sam spots a bear and is terrified and wants to leave the island, but Elena does not. Phillips is the author of Disappearing Earth.

Aube Rey Lescure - River East, River West

Fourteen year old Alva is living in Shanghai in 2007. Her mother is a Caucasian American, but she never knew her Chinese father. Alva struggles when her mother marries Lu Fang, a rich landlord. Lescure is a French-Chinese writer. She has written for many publications, but River East, River West is her debut novel. It was longlisted for the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction.

O.O. Sangoyomi - Masquerade

Set in a reimagined 15th century West Africa, this novel tells the tale of one woman's fight for freedom. Ododo's hometown of Timbuktu has been conquered by a warrior king and the conditions for women get worse. Nigerian American author Sangoyomi is a graduate of Princeton. Masquerade is her debut novel.

Sharon Wahl - Everything Flirts: Philosophical Romances 

Hijacking classic works of philosophy, Wahl applies Wittgenstein, Benthem, Zeno and more to the cause of love in this collection of short stories. She asks: Why is it so hard to make the first move? How do we find the person we will love? If you finally find a person to love, how do you convince them to love you back? Based in Tuscon, Arizona, Wahl is a writer and documentary film producer. 

The shortlist will be revealed on 3 April 2025 and the winner on 1 May 2025. The winner received $150,000 USD while the four shortlisted finalist receive $12,500 each. If the winner is translated, the author receives $100,000 USD and the translator $50,000. 

Ora et Labora

Longlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize, Emily Maguire's Rapture (2024) is a brilliant work of historical fiction.

Set in the ninth century, the story begins in 821 in Mainz where young, motherless Agnes is being raised by her father, an English priest. She hides under the table and listens to the guests her father entertains talk about religion and a world outside her hometown. Her father teaches her to read and gives her books from which she learns history and religion. As she enters her teens and becomes of marriageable age, she grows fearful that her life will be diminished and that she is fated to die in childbirth.

She meets Randulf, a Benedictine monk, who visits the house. Most of her father's guests ignore her, but Randulf engages, asking her opinions and valuing her insight. They become friends and he brings her books by Cicero, Virgil and others which expand her worldview. When her father dies, she is destined to enter a convent. She pleads with Randulf for another solution. He helps disguise her as a man and brings her to Fulda Abbey where she trains as a Benedictine monk under the name Brother John.

For the next few years, as John, Agnes' skills are put to use translating and transcribing ancient texts. She lives a humble life of devotion, prayer and contemplation, forever fearful that her body will betray her and her secret will be exposed. Eventually she leaves the Abbey and travels to Greece and later to Rome. With each move she uses her knowledge of theology and oratory skills to secure a position. She becomes known for her charity and kindness, a contrast to many men in the church who use their positions to acquire wealth or favour. In Rome, her stature grows and she is appointed Pope Johannes Anglicus and reigned for two years (855-857) before her story ends. 

Maguire has based her novel on the legend of Pope Joan about a medieval woman who disguised herself as a man and ascended to the highest religious office. While it is most likely merely a myth, it is certainly a tantalising tale given the staunch patriarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, providing Maguire with an opportunity to craft a story from the female point of view. 

I absolutely loved this novel and was engrossed in the tale from the outset. It is a story of love, devotion, and friendship. Agnes is a fully formed character with curiosity and desire. Maguire has vividly portrayed the time and place, allowing the reader to immerse themselves in the story. I would highly recommend Rapture to anyone who enjoys works of historical fiction like Maggie O'Farrell's The Marriage Portrait (2022), Hannah Kent's Devotion (2021) or Kate Grenville's A Room Made of Leaves (2020). 

Emily Maguire is such a fascinating author, shifting seamlessly between genres. I have written previously about her brilliant Aussie Noir crime novel An Isolated Incident (2016) and her compelling contemporary fiction Love Objects (2021). She is an author to watch and I am cheering her on for the Stella Prize!

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. Updated: My review is available on this blog.

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 is available on this blog.

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.