The literary canon has historically been overpopulated with male writers. Even in the twenty-first century, the male experience continues to enjoy more airtime in the critical world than any other perspective.
While we’re certainly making strides in the right direction, last year, the Booker Prize Shortlist featured more men named Paul than women. While hilarious in theory, the reality of such limited women’s representation left a sour taste in many mouths and resulted in accusations that the eventual winner – Prophet Song by Paul Lynch – was merely “Booker bait” (in other words, a novel which incorporates themes and styles which have historically won the coveted prize), which isn’t an uncommon criticism in the Booker world.
Thankfully, it appears as though this year’s judges have headed 2023’s criticisms and accordingly placed women writers at the forefront. Though an inherently subjectively judged literary panel shouldn’t necessarily adjust its criteria to please the masses – there’s something to be said for the guaranteed readership and commercial success promised by the shortlist.
Just being nominated will instantly transform a writer’s career, with each shortlisted nominee being awarded £2,500 and instant global recognition. The winner is awarded a life-changing sum of £50,000. Given the current global political climate and the disturbing regression of women’s rights in the US, it’s more important than ever to delve into stories written by marginalised communities.
The Booker Prize continues to garner worldwide attention and has an immense impact on the canonicity of burgeoning novelists. With its inherently colonial roots and the rightful backlash the institution has received since its inception in 1969, it’s heartening to see a shortlist with five out of six novels written by women – though the representation of stories from a diverse range of ethnic minorities needs to be better. Still, it’s an improvement on the usual pale, male and stale line-up.
The length of the Booker novels this year is also far more accessible. Five of the books are approximately 300 pages long, with a sixth being just 404 – a far cry from some of the most popular shortlisted novels in the last decade such as Hanya Yanagihara’s devastating A Little Life in 2015 or Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting in 2023.
We’ve summarised the six shortlisted novels for 2024’s edition of the top literary prize below.
James by Percival Everett
An enthralling re-imagining of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the current favourite within the Booker Prize shortlist, Everett’s masterful novel takes place by The Mississippi River in 1861.
The enslaved Jim overhears that he’s going to be sold to new owners in New Orleans, which means he’ll be separated from his wife and daughter forever – so he decides to hide on Jackson’s Island until he can come up with a plan. He promptly teams up with the young runaway Huck Finn, who has faked his own death to escape his violent father – and the two begin their treacherous journey by raft down the Mississippi River in the hope of salvation.
Buy now £9.39, Amazon
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
A surprisingly uplifting novel about the human condition, Harvey’s Orbital follows six astronauts who observe our tiny blue planet from their ever-rotating spacecraft. Though they have never been further away from human life, they remain inherently connected to humanity.
They receive tragic news, contemplate returning home, and weigh the importance of their own scientific research against their personal needs. Tender, poetic and deeply moving – it’s a highly original meditation on the natural world and the role which humans play in it.
Buy now £8.49, Amazon
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
For those looking to discover a new, un-put-downable yarn filled to the brim with espionage and intrigue, Creation Lake is set to be your favourite on the Booker Prize shortlist for 2024. Far from simply a dazzling and adrenaline-fuelled tale, Kushner also offers captivating commentary on the history of mankind.
American spy-for-hire Saide Smith is sent by her mysterious employers to a remote corner of France to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists. The cult-like group is led by an enigmatic elder named Bruno Lacombe who has rejected modern civilisation and believes the path to enlightenment requires a return to primitivism. Despite her self-assuredness, Sadie becomes unknowingly reeled into Bruno’s bizarre philosophy.
Buy now £9.99, Amazon
Held by Anne Michaels
Described as one of the more challenging reads within 2024’s Booker Bunch, Held by Anne Michaels features a distinctly fragmented and disjointed narrative style. Indeed, the narrative spans generations past, present and future – beginning with the faltering breath of protagonist John, who is incapacitated from a blast on a battlefield near the River Escaut in 1917 and unable to feel his legs as his memory begins to transmute and transcend with the falling snow.
Buy now £8.49, Amazon
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
A steamy, sapphic love story with a historical edge, Yael van der Wouden’s debut novel is set in post-Nazi era Netherlands in 1961. The novel’s protagonist is a recluse named Isabel, who lives alone while meticulously tending to her family’s ancestral home. Yet when her brother, Louis, arrives on her doorstep with a new girlfriend in tow who intends to stay for the season – this outsider threatens to shatter everything Isabel has ever known.
Buy now £9.99, Amazon
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
A brilliant Australian novel, Stone Yard Devotional follows a middle-aged woman who leaves Sydney to return to the rural outback in which she was raised. Though she doesn’t believe in God and doesn’t have any real religious attachments, our protagonist finds herself contemplating her life from the comfort of a nunnery in the middle of nowhere.
Like many of the 2024 Booker nominees, it’s more of a meditation of past, present and future selves than a novel with a particularly driving plot – though Wood’s elegant, otherworldly, often strange and masterful prose is sure to stay with you for weeks after reading.
Buy now £9.99, Amazon
