Booker Prize shortlist blends British fiction with Jamaican epic and US domestic drama in ‘very human’ final six

LONDON, September 23 — The prestigious Booker Prize has unveiled its shortlist of six novels, a blend of British fiction, Jamaican epic, and American domestic drama, described as "idiosyncratic" and "very human" by the judges. The six-strong shortlist includes two past Booker winners: Douglas Stuart's John and Marlon James's The Disappearers.

Stuart, who won the Booker in 2020 for Shuggie Bain, explores a father-son bond strained by shame and secrets in his Scottish-American novel set on the Outer Hebrides. James's The Disappearers follows the survivor of a brutal homophobic attack in 1980s Kingston, Jamaica. Other shortlisted novels include American novelist Elizabeth Strout's The Things We Never Say, and British authors Luke Kennard's Black Bag, M. John Harrison's The End of Everything, and Rebecca Perry's May We Feed the King.

Classicist Mary Beard, chair of the judges, noted the variety of the novels, ranging from hilarious to discomfiting, frighteningly strange to alarmingly domestic. The male-heavy shortlist also probes questions of gender roles and sexuality. The winner will be announced on November 9 in a London ceremony.