The Best Fiction Books

Tennessee Williams was a giant of 20th-century American theatre, explains literary scholar Ahmed Honeini, whose new book unpicks Williams' preoccupation with domestic family drama. Here, Honeini selects five key books—landmark plays, personal memoirs and an influential biography—that illuminate the life of the great playwright.

Home to the Blarney Stone — said to bestow “the gift of the gab” — and with a long tradition of valuing bards and wandering storytellers, it is no surprise that Ireland has produced some of the most recognised names in the English language canon. Considering the small population, Irish authors continue to punch well above their weight in publishing. Here we bring you a selection of Irish authors that have been recommended on Five Books by experts, from bestselling and award-winning contemporary writers to both famous and less well-known classic authors.

What are the unmissable new novels of the season? We have some suggestions. We asked Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn to put together a selection of some of the most exciting new fiction being published in early 2026.

It's an ideal combination: literary ambition and a rollicking good plot packed with intrigue and drama. We asked deputy editor Cal Flyn to pull together a list of five Booker Prize-nominated mystery novels, from an astrologically-inspired murder mystery set in goldrush-era New Zealand to an unusually intellectual noir starring a jaded reporter in rustbelt America.

The best spy fiction combines the genre’s thrills and intrigue with profound moral and existential questions about what it means to be human, argues novelist Alex Preston. Here, he discusses five of his favourite literary spy novels, ranging from colonial Vietnam to contemporary London.

World War II forced people of many nationalities into extraordinary circumstances, says Lori Inglis Hall—who works in the archives of WW2 photographer Lee Miller and whose new novel follows twins forced apart by conflict. Here, she recommends five of the best novels set during World War II, both historical fiction and novels written immediately after or during the war by eyewitnesses.

A new TV adaptation of Marian Keyes' beloved book series about the Walsh family has brought a fresh flush of readers to the Irish author's warm and funny domestic novels. We put together a list of Keyes' full back catalogue to assist those searching for a new-to-them book to sink into the sofa with.

In recent years, there has been a slew of novels retelling old myths and epics from the perspective of a female character, but books with strong female leads are nothing new. From classic fiction to memoirs, from fantasy to thrillers, literature is populated with female leads — both fictional and real — who are strong in different ways.

With its music and fashion and the ever-present threat of nuclear war, the 1980s are ripe for fiction, argues Eleanor Anstruther, author of Fallout, a novel about the decades-long protest against cruise missiles at Greenham Common. She recommends five of her favourites—including two Booker Prize winners—from the excesses of Thatcherite London to a coming of age on the slagheaps of Glasgow.

The Edgar Award for Best Novel is one of the most prestigious prizes in the mystery and crime fiction genre, and an excellent starting point if you're looking for a flavour of what kind of books are out there. As we start our list of the best mystery books of 2026, Five Books editor Sophie Roell runs us through this year's shortlist, from Dickensian London to the wilds of the Southern Ocean.