By Peter.
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann A fictionalized portrait of Austrian filmmaker G.W. Pabst, exploring art, power, and moral compromise. Pabst flees the Nazis to Hollywood, fails to thrive, then returns to work for Goebbels’ propaganda machine. Praised for its supple, horrifying, and mordantly droll prose (LRB, NYT).
Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett A woman in rural isolation is haunted by memories of past lovers after receiving a surprise letter. A shimmering, neo-baroque meditation on desire, loss, and letting go—hailed as a “true original” and “new modernism” (TLS, LRB).
Endling by Maria Reva Set in Ukraine in 2022, this darkly comic debut follows three women involved in a mail-order-bride scam and a feminist stunt, while an endangered snail becomes a symbol of resistance. Described as “dextrous,” “virtuosic,” and playfully ironic (Guardian, NPR).
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan A dual-timeline novel: a 2014 poet’s lost work on climate blindness, and a 2119 scholar researching “The Derangement.” A brash, late-career showpiece from the 77-year-old master—called a “bowling ball” of a book and a “summation novel” (NYT, Irish Independent).
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood A compact, atmospheric novella about a shrimp-scraper in a northern British coastal town who dreams of folk music. Longlisted for the 2025 Booker; critics praise its brine-tanged myth-making and evocative power (Guardian, FT).
Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood A fragmented, brain-fogged narrative of a writer grappling with chronic illness and grief. A poetic, disorienting, and often hilarious follow-up to No One Is Talking About This (Vulture, Atlantic).
Helm by Sarah Hall A 20-year-in-the-making “cli-fi” epic centered on Britain’s only named wind and a climatologist whose research makes global headlines. Virtuosic, fierce, and deeply rooted in Cumbrian landscape (FT, Guardian).
Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin Six unsettling stories that pivot from ordinary moments into psychological horror. Subtle, personal dread and piercing clarity (Guardian, Service95).
Flashlight by Susan Choi A multi-generational, genre-shifting tale of identity and hidden truths, spanning North Korea and the U.S. Shortlisted for the Booker; “intricate, surprising, and profound” (Booker judges, TLS).
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang A dark-academia fantasy where a Cambridge post-grad descends into a hellish university underworld to resurrect her supervisor. Deliciously heretical and world-building (Guardian, NYT).
Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie A debut set at the Edinburgh Fringe, dissecting critic-artist relationships, female rage, and cancel culture. Entertaining and turbulent (LA Times, Chicago Review of Books).
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai A sprawling, genre-bending return after nearly 20 years—about love, identity, and postcolonial history across continents. Capacious and “better company than real-life people” (Guardian, NYT).
Bad Bad Girl by Gish Jen A fiction-memoir hybrid reimagining her mother’s life from 1930s Shanghai to New York. Heartbreaking, humane, and hilariously sharp (LA Times, Washington Post).
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Four interconnected stories of Nigerian women whose lives haven’t gone as planned. A “complex, multi-layered beauty” and “four novels for the price of one” (Observer, New Statesman).
We Do Not Part by Han Kang A dream-reality-blurring novel uncovering a forgotten chapter of Korean history. Exquisite and profoundly disquieting (LA Times).
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters A seductive, mischievous short-story collection ranging from romantic to dystopian. Meticulously crafted and history-making (Chicago Review of Books, Guardian).
Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah A quietly powerful coming-of-age tale in postcolonial East Africa. Restrained mastery (Observer, WSJ).
Universality by Natasha Brown A sharp satire of identity politics, cancel culture, and media. Enormous, nasty fun (Literary Review, New Statesman).
The Names by Florence Knapp A Sliding Doors-style debut in which a newborn’s name determines his fate. Profound and joyful (Standard, Washington Post).
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong A tender, panoramic coming-of-age story of a young gay man and an elderly widow in Obama-era rural America. Possibly the first millennial Great American Novel (Art Review, Observer).
Eden’s Shore by Oisín Fagan A brutal, black-humored seafaring epic about a slaver’s doomed utopian voyage. Rich and visceral (TLS, FT).
Dream State by Eric Puchner A multi-generational family saga in a warming Montana valley. Hypnotically telescopic and Oprah’s book-club pick (Lit Hub, Oprah).
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami A speculative thriller about dream-surveillance and privacy loss. Scarily credible (Spectator, Economist).
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Confessions by Catherine Airey A debut saga of three generations of women shaped by trauma and liberation. Crackling intelligence and genuine surprises (Irish Independent, Guardian).
Flesh by David Szalay A minimalist, Booker-winning life-spanning novel about one Hungarian man. Searing insight and a masterpiece (Guardian, Observer).
These novels represent the most celebrated and widely discussed literary fiction of 2025, with many earning Booker long- or shortlistings, Nobel-level attention, or major critical praise. Which ones catch your eye?
