Booker prize 2025: the six shortlisted books, reviewed by experts

Booker Prize 2025: The Six Shortlisted Books

The 2025 Booker Prize showcases six distinguished works of adult literary fiction. From an initial pool of 150 submissions, a longlist of 13 titles was refined to a final shortlist of six novels. Expert reviewers examine these finalists ahead of the prize announcement on November 10.

Tom’s Journey of Reflection

One of the shortlisted novels follows middle-aged Tom, who fulfills a twelve-year vow to leave his unfaithful wife once their youngest child begins college. Setting out on a cross-country road trip, he traverses an American landscape that feels both vividly alive and strikingly familiar.

Through his narration, Tom alternates between candor and restraint, turning his journey into an intimate meditation on self-knowledge and memory. The story draws the reader in as a quiet observer, prompting an inner question: Which role do we occupy in our own lives?

“Do you resemble the wife craving emotional impact, the son maintaining distance, the daughter confronting change, the ex-partner who is accomplished but unfulfilled — or Tom himself?”

The novel’s modest events conceal an emotional richness. Though nothing overtly dramatic occurs, its quiet intensity captivates. Tom faces one meaningful obstacle, yet he never laments choices left unmade. Instead, he discovers unforeseen glimpses of other possible lives and the comfort of ordinary existence — found in family routines and consistent work.

A film version appears almost inevitable. Its true test, however, will be to preserve the story’s tender melancholy and contemplative tension on screen.

Author’s Summary

This novel’s strength lies in depicting an ordinary man’s quiet reckoning with love, loyalty, and the life left behind, distilled through a tender yet unsentimental narrative.

The Conversation — 2025-11-06