Far from being critical, The Times’ characterization of this year’s shortlist celebrates what the publication calls “novels for grown-ups”—works that favor maturity and substance over trendy innovation, championing straightforward yet sophisticated literary fiction.

The Booker Prize website reinforces this theme by spotlighting the established credentials of the shortlisted writers. Among them are Kiran Desai, a previous winner, alongside Andrew Miller and David Szalay, both formerly shortlisted. All six authors bring substantial literary histories to the table.

While prizes typically celebrate innovation, and the Booker recognizes books rather than careers (unlike the Nobel), these novels demonstrate that novelty can emerge from the work itself, not merely from debut authors. The emphasis on seasoned writers shouldn’t surprise us. Several awards specifically honor mature talent, including Bernardine Evaristo’s newly established Pioneer Prize for female writers over 60. Evaristo created this award to address how “older women writers tend to be overlooked,” with 91-year-old Maureen Duffy receiving the inaugural honor.

These initiatives may counter publishing’s youth-centric culture, exemplified by programs like Granta’s best young novelists, Penguin’s authors under 35, and The New Yorker’s former 20 under 40 list.

The Frontrunners

It remains to be seen whether this year’s winner will reflect or challenge patterns of overlooking older women writers. Three shortlisted authors are women, and both student readers and bookmakers favor Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny and Susan Choi’s Flashlight, with Ben Markovits’ The Rest of Our Lives close behind.

Flashlight attracted readers through its specific historical depth, tracing multiple generations from 1940s Japan through suburban America and North Korea. The novel’s exploration of lesser-known migration experiences, combined with mystery elements, creates broad appeal.

Markovits’ The Rest of Our Lives struck students as quintessentially Booker: an extramarital affair, an American road trip, and internal monologues from an articulate university lecturer protagonist. Beyond these familiar elements, the novel shares with Flashlight a core theme of existential displacement—characters adrift in their own lives. Tom’s existence gradually unravels after his wife’s affair, yet rather than dramatic upheaval, he embarks on a contemplative cross-country journey after they agree to maintain appearances until their youngest child leaves home.

Shared Themes of Disruption

Infidelity also anchors Miller’s The Land in Winter, where the brutal 1962-63 English winter traps two couples indoors in the West Country, forcing them to confront their troubled relationships. Danger lurks through unpredictable personalities like Alison Riley, described as “the kind of person who might choose to bring the house down simply to find out what kind of noise it made.”

Identity uncertainty, shaped by unconventional family dynamics, connects all six novels. Katie Kitamura’s Auditionaddresses this most explicitly through its two-part structure examining a protagonist’s relationship with a young man who may or may not be her son. As the Booker judges observed, the novel suggests we constantly perform roles, much like its actor protagonist—who first denies, then accepts, the young man as her son.

Szalay’s Flesh stands apart while maintaining the theme of life unraveling into risk and uncertainty. Its controversial plot centers on a 15-year-old boy’s relationship with a woman his mother’s age, rendered in extensive dialogue that creates a spare, incisive narrative.

A Promising Contender

Desai’s The Loneliness of Sunny and Sonia, published on the shortlist announcement day—perhaps an auspicious omen—marks only her third novel in an extensive career. Classified as romance, it arrives amid a resurgence in romantic fiction, including emerging subgenres like romantasy. Judge Sarah Jessica Parker’s romance associations and upcoming literary adaptations, including Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and Netflix’s 2026 Pride and Prejudice, may create favorable conditions.

The novel opens with a 55-year-old protagonist whose parents micromanage her existence, then shifts to explore an epic, transnational romance between the titular characters. Desai continues her pattern of literary reinvention between novels. Having criticized her debut Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard as “exoticist,” she addresses such concerns directly when protagonist Sonia faces accusations of writing “orientalist nonsense.” In a Guardian interview, Desai revealed this character expresses her own anxieties about representing India for Western audiences.

Her second novel, The Inheritance of Loss, examined violence following demands for a separate state in post-Partition India and won the 2006 Booker when Desai was 35—then the youngest woman to receive the award, later surpassed by Eleanor Catton at an even younger age in 2013. These statistics suggest Booker winners typically aren’t newcomers.

This year’s shortlist collectively explores the profound impact of uncertainty and change, favoring introspective responses to disruptions sometimes concealed for decades. Though predominantly middle-age narratives, they’re anything but safe or comfortable.