Books by Kiran Desai, Susan Choi and Katie Kitamura lead Booker Prize shortlist

LONDON – Indian author Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness Of Sonia And Sunny, a sweeping, nearly 700-page cross-continental romance, and American novelist Katie Kitamura’s Audition, a 200-page thriller about an actress’ relationship with a man who might be her son, are among the six titles shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2025.

The nominees, revealed on Sept 23 during an event at the Royal Festival Hall in London, also include American novelist Susan Choi’s Flashlight, a family saga that ranges from suburban America to North Korea; Hungarian-English writer David Szalay’s Flesh, about a Hungarian man’s rise from teenage criminality to high society; British-American writer Benjamin Markovits’ The Rest Of Our Lives, about an American professor who leaves his wife and heads off on a road trip; and English novelist Andrew Miller’s The Land In Winter, about two tense marriages in rural England.

Irish novelist Roddy Doyle, the chair of the judging panel in 2025 and himself a Booker Prize-winning author for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1993), said at a news conference before the announcement on Sept 23 that the novels were “brilliantly human”. “That might seem a bit trite,” he said, “but I’ve read novels where I’ve often felt to myself, ‘If there was a little bit less showing off, there would be a good story there,’ and I don’t think any of these books show off.”

British writer Chris Power, also a judge in 2025, said the books shared another characteristic: They all contain “pretty hostile child-parent relationships”. “I don’t know what that says about our parenting identities,” he added with a laugh.

Also on the judging panel are American actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Nigerian writer Ayobami Adebayo and American novelist Kiley Reid.

First awarded in 1969, the Booker Prize has become one of literature’s most prestigious awards. The prize in 2024

went to Orbital by English author Samantha Harvey

, a novel set aboard the International Space Station.

Other winners over the past decade have included A Brief History Of Seven Killings (2014) by Jamaican author Marlon James, The Testaments (2019) by Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, and Scottish-American writer Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain (2020).

Desai is the only previous Booker winner on the shortlist in 2025. Her last novel, The Inheritance Of Loss, won the 2006 prize. The Loneliness Of Sonia And Sunny is arguably the highest-profile nominee, having in September received rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

Alexandra Jacobs, in The New York Times Book Review, said it was “not so much a novel as a marvel”, and “better company than real-life people”. Anthony Cummins in The Times of London said the novel had “undeniable power and heft” and that no one could argue if Desai wins the Booker again.

Still, critics have praised all six titles.

Miller’s The Land In Winter, which has not yet been released in the United States, has received several stellar reviews in Britain. James Walton in The Times of London described it as “a gently persuasive reminder that every age gets some things right and plenty wrong – and that at the time it’s not always clear which is which”.

The judges will now reread the six finalists before announcing a winner at a ceremony in London on Nov 10. The winning author will receive £50,000 (S$86,000). NYTIMES

The full shortlist