The 2023 Booker Prize Longlist

The prestigious Booker Prize was established in 1969 with the aim of stimulating the reading and discussion of contemporary fiction. The award goes to the author of what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best sustained work of fiction written in the English language and published in the UK and Ireland. Last year's winner was The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.

This year's longlist of nominees was announced on August 1. The contenders include four debut novels, four Irish authors, and works originating across four continents. This is the first Booker Prize nomination for ten of the nominated authors. Read on to learn about the thirteen titles on this year's longlist.

A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo

A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession, and political corruption. The judges called it a "powerful, staggering read." Adébáy?` is the fifth Nigerian author to be nominated.

Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

A murder investigation leads a retired policeman to confront the loss and sorrow of his past. The beautiful, haunting novel explores love, memory, grief, and long-buried secrets. This is the fifth nomination for the Irish author.

Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein

The unnamed narrator of this story is a young woman who has moved to the remote northern country of her forebears to keep house for her older brother. The story explores questions of complicity and power, displacement and inheritance.

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

Praised by the judges for its "clarity, variety, and fizzling prose, this debut novel tells the story of a family who flees political violence in 1970s Jamaica for a new life in Miami. But they find America to be far from the safe haven they sought.

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney

At age thirteen, there are two things Jamie wants in life: to build a Perpetual Motion Machine and to connect with his mother, Noelle, who died when he was born. An absorbing coming-of-age story about the power of imagination.

This Other Eden by Paul Harding

Based on a true story, this novel transports readers to a tiny, diverse, community eking out an existence on an island off the coast of Maine in the early 1900s. Judges cited the novel's "delicate symphony of language, land, and narrative."

Pearl by Siân Hughes

Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she's tormented by the secrets she's sure her father is keeping from her.

All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow

Sunday is a woman whose carefully ordered life is upended by her new neighbors. Told from the perspective of the autistic mother of a teen girl, this poetic debut intertwines themes of familial love, friendship, class, prejudice, and trauma.
This book is not yet available for purchase.

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

Ireland is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and scientist Eilish can only watch helplessly as the world she knew disappears. When first her husband and then her eldest son vanish, how far will she go to save her family?
This book is not yet available for purchase.

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

In this "strange and wonderful" sci-fi epic, Leigh joins the exploration team for a newly discovered Atlantic trench. hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms. Instead, her findings challenge everything she thought she knew.
This book is not yet available for purchase.

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

Gopi is an eleven-year-old squash prodigy who retreats into perfecting her game after her mother's death. This enthralling debut is a valentine to innocence, sisterhood, and the strange ways we come to know ourselves and each other.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

The Barnes family is in trouble. Where did it all go wrong? Set in the Irish Midlands, this family drama—at once hilarious and heartbreaking—asks the question: can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life.

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

Eng notches his third Booker nomination with this, his third novel. Drawing on the life and writing of Somerset Maugham, this spellbinding tale explores the nature of love and traces the fault lines of race, gender, sexuality, and power.

On September 21, the shortlist of six titles will be announced. The winner, to be revealed on November 26, will receive £50,000, while shortlisted novelists each receive £2,500 along with a specially bound edition of their book. We offer our sincere congratulations to all of the nominees. Time to add these 13 titles to your TBR list!

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon