In brief: Missing Persons; Compendium of the Occult; Under the Eye of the Big Bird – review
A very personal view of an Irish scandal; a comprehensive survey of mystical beliefs; and a dystopian sci-fi novel where humanity is on the brink
The best new novelists for 2025
Welcome to our annual selection of the year’s finest debut novels. We have a proven track record in picking authors that go on to be loved by readers and win awards … from Douglas Stuart and Sally Rooney to Caleb Azumah Nelson and Bonnie Garmus. Here are 2025’s gems
Gill Hornby: ‘Jane Austen created the six best novels in the English language’
The writer on her third novel, Miss Austen, being turned into a TV drama, what we get wrong about the much-loved author – and why she would never write a book with her husband, Robert Harris
Washed-up Brits, local lowlifes and a Kray twin’s lighter: noir novel Spanish Beauty shines fond light on Benidorm
Recently published in English for the first time, Esther García Llovet’s story pays tribute to the resort regarded by many as ‘the worst place in Spain’
Author Tony Tulathimutte: ‘The great millennial theme? Resentment’
His short story The Feminist went viral. Now the writer is back with more satirical snapshots of Gen Y. Over a bottle of bourbon in his Brooklyn apartment, he talks about dating, politics and rejection
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji review – women on the edge
This multigenerational saga of an Iranian family fleeing to the US during the 1979 revolution is both funny and poignant
Thousands of romantasy fans make midnight dates with new Rebecca Yarros novel
Bookshops staged late-night parties – with fancy dress, quizzes and cakes – to launch the third instalment of novelist’s Empyrean series, Onyx Storm
Unfinished Business by Shankari Chandran review – page-turning political thriller from Miles Franklin winner
The award-winning author has hit a more commercial note with this nuanced thriller about a CIA agent investigating the assassination of a journalist in Sri Lanka
My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel review – queer love in Pinochet’s Chile
The romance between a former sex worker and a young revolutionary is explored in this novel of transformation and resilience
The Gorgeous Inertia of the Earth by Adrian Duncan review – the meaning of beauty
A sculptor embarks on a philosophical quest in this revelatory tale of love and loss, exploring our relationship with the divine
British crime writer Mick Herron wins Crime Writers’ Association lifetime achievement award
The author of books such as Slow Horses and Down Cemetery Road receives the prestigious Diamond Dagger award for his contribution to the genre
Sweat by Emma Healey review – from trauma to treadmill
A personal trainer puts her abusive ex-boyfriend through his paces in a revenge tale from the author of Elizabeth Is Missing
The Book of George by Kate Greathead review – male misadventures
This wryly comic tale follows the lives of a stunted antihero and his long-suffering girlfriend
Crime and thrillers of the month – review
Nicci French’s latest gem; an unsettling brainteaser from Japanese enigma Uketsu; the tensions that mar the maiden voyage of an airship; and a sojourn on a scary Scottish island
Mothers and Sons by Adam Haslett review – a moving treatise of family dynamics
The third book from the twice Pulitzer prize-nominated American author is a complex portrait of parallel lives on a par with the great Russian novels