On Tuesday 22nd, we’ll know which books survived the second round of sifting by the Booker Prize judging panel. We’ve read a few of them and below is more about what we thought. As much as we loved Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (which won in 2020), sadly, we found his latest Booker Prize longlisted book, John of John, to be a disappointment. Can’t wait to find out who the winner will be on the 9th of November.
Dilara is a Turkish exile, living in Italy with her husband and her ailing father, a blacklisted political academic who is gradually succumbing to dementia. Having fled President Erdoğan’s oppressive regime, the three of them have led a comfortably uneventful life for some years. When Dilara hires some builders for a renovation, she is astonished to discover that in place of the expected swish new bathroom, they have installed a Turkish prison cell, a sesame-scented portal to their much missed homeland. A wonderful exploration of memory, captivity and exile. The Renovation by Kenan Orhan is yet another gem on this year’s excellent Booker Longlist.
Laura Miller, the protagonist of Booker Prize long-listed The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley, has an unfortunate tendency to become trapped in awkward, sometimes dangerous situations. Be it with her cold, bossy mother; her flaky landlord; and, most devastatingly, with a celebrity comedian who sexually abuses her. In her pared-down style, Riley captures these moments with chilling clarity. We feel what Laura feels. Add some outstanding dialogue, and you have a novel well worth reading.
This year’s Booker Prize is shaping up to be one of the best contested in years and singing to us from the 2026 longlist is The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis. This atmospheric tale of perception and awakening is told by Flora, a Mexican woman with a rich interior life, leading a somewhat sedate life in London. Whilst visiting her mother in Mexico City, Flora is badly bitten by the family dog and hospitalised. Here she meets Wilhelmina, elderly toy collector and magic lantern performer. Their strange affinity will come to challenge Flora’s notions of life, longing and loss.
