• The Best Novels: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction - Good Girl: A Novel by Aria Aber
  • The Best Novels: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction - All Fours: A Novel by Miranda July
  • The Best Novels: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction - The Persians: A Novel by Sanam Mahloudji
  • The Best Novels: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction - Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
  • The Best Novels: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction - The Safekeep: A Novel by Yael van der Wouden
  • The Best Novels: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction - Fundamentally: A Novel by Nussaibah Younis

The Best Novels: The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, recommended by Kit de Waal

The 2025 shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction features a family saga about formerly rich Iranian refugees, a surprisingly funny tale of ISIS brides and a “weird” midlife crisis adventure in suburban California. We asked the bestselling novelist—chair of this year’s judging panel—to talk us through the six finalists.

  • Recent Fiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist - Brotherless Night: A Novel by V. V. Ganeshananthan
  • Recent Fiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist - The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright
  • Recent Fiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist - Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville
  • Recent Fiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist - Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
  • Recent Fiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist - Soldier Sailor: A Novel by Claire Kilroy
  • Recent Fiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist - River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure

Recent Fiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist, recommended by Monica Ali

Each summer, the judges for the Women’s Prize for Fiction highlight the best new fiction books by female writers published over the previous twelve months. We asked Monica Ali, the acclaimed novelist and chair of this year’s jury, to talk us through the six novels that made the 2024 shortlist. See all our best novels of 2024 recommendations