12 of the best page-turners from the Booker Library

The Booker Prizes’ aim has always been to inspire people to read the world’s best fiction. Every reader knows the pleasure of being thoroughly absorbed by a great book. But what qualifies a book to be declared the ‘best’ is a matter of contention and usually depends on what kind of reading experience is desired.  

Some readers most appreciate fiction that is immediately enjoyable, easy to comprehend and adheres to certain forms of literature. Others seek more complex writing that presents a pleasurable challenge, or even invents a new way of telling a story. However, the notion that a rollicking good tale is somehow incompatible with literary excellence has been continuously disproven by titles selected by Booker judges over the years. Authors such as Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro and Elif Shafak have produced many riveting bestsellers that are also critically acclaimed. 

Debate was sparked when Michael Portillo, chair of judges for the 2008 Booker Prize, presented that year’s shortlist and declared: ‘We have brought you fun.’ Some raised their eyebrows in 2023 when Leïla Slimani, chair of judges for the International Booker Prize, presented that year’s shortlist stating, ‘I think it’s a very cool, very sexy list.’ These announcements led to accusations that the prize was nominating books based on readability and popularity over literary merit. Such quarrels have been dismissed by authors such as former Booker winner Julian Barnes, who reasoned ‘It’s a false argument… All great writers are readable.’ Similarly, Stephen Kelman, author of the 2011 Booker-shortlisted Pigeon English, said, ‘I don’t get the idea that readability and quality should be mutually exclusive. I think they should be combined.’ 

Here is a selection of novels which brilliantly accomplish this literary alchemy. These are stories with attention-seizing plots which also stir the imagination and intellect with their unique styles. Any concern that a prize-worthy book must be dense and difficult will be dispelled by the truly captivating reading experience that these books provide. Not only are they thoroughly immersive, but they leave the reader with plenty to ponder. 

Waterland by Graham Swift

When his department and role at a school come under question, history teacher Tom Crick sets aside the usual curriculum to confide in his students stories that are about the marshland region of his youth and his own family’s past. Many of these are scandalous tales involving madness, jealousy, incest, murder and kidnapping. At the centre of the book is a haunting incident from Tom’s youth when a local boy drowned in the river where his father worked as a lock-keeper. The truth about that death is gradually revealed alongside many other fascinating historical details from the Fenlands of eastern England. However, Swift masterfully weaves into this pressing mystery an investigation into the nature of history itself and its importance in the present. Though it may be challenging at times to keep up with this book’s fragmented timeline, it ultimately builds to a satisfyingly complex understanding of the way a life is one of many tributaries which feed into the wider body of the past. This artful novel, shortlisted for the 1983 Booker Prize, is packed with intrigue, harrowing family strife and a fascinating philosophical examination of eels. 

Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller 

The blurred line between love and passionate obsession drives the engrossing story of Zoe Heller’s 2003 Booker-shortlisted novel. Though, on the surface, it’s about a scandalous affair between married female teacher, Sheba, and her underage male pupil, Steven, the notes which form this narrative are written by Sheba’s older colleague, Barbara, who is a lonely history teacher nearing retirement. Barbara gleefully keeps an account of the scandal, replete with gold stars to highlight important events and a studiously recorded timeline. When Sheba’s illicit affair comes out in the open, she quickly loses everything of importance. All the while, Barbara schemes to become Sheba’s closest friend and confidant. Her passionate engagement in the mess of Sheba’s life is complicated by the fact Barbara has previously alienated numerous female companions. There’s a mounting tension as we’re led down psychological corridors which have been twisted by intense ardour. It’s a riveting tale about power, consent and social isolation with a narrator who is definitely not to be trusted. 

Room by Emma Donoghue 

It’s notoriously difficult for authors to write convincingly from a child’s perspective, but Emma Donoghue carries it off with aplomb in this nail-biting Booker-shortlisted novel from 2010. Five-year-old Jack has never been outside of the locked single room that he and his mother inhabit. Because it’s all he’s ever known, Jack believes that this is the only reality which exists, while the external world which he sees on television is a fantasy. The only other person who enters the room is ‘Old Nick’ who visits at night while Jack hides in the wardrobe. As the reasons for their captivity gradually become apparent, his mother cleverly plans a way for them to finally gain their freedom and introduce Jack to a life beyond their confined existence. This dark tale shows how precious the bond between mother and child becomes in extreme circumstances. The novel’s thrilling story is made all the more potent as it’s related through Jack’s confused, innocent and utterly persuasive point of view. 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 

In this alternate history of 19th century America, Colson Whitehead ingeniously invents a real underground rail transport system (as opposed to the historical network of secret routes) which leads to safe houses for escaped slaves. We follow Cora, who flees from a southern plantation to journey along this railway through a number of states and communities, all of which have distinct social characteristics and exhibit different forms of prejudice. She is pursued by a vicious slave catcher who is motivated by profit and a belief that America belongs to whites. Cora’s travels and intellectual development elucidate strategies for survival in a country plagued by deeply embedded prejudices. This is a novel which is both fantastical for the way it invents a physical underground system and starkly realistic for the brutality with which slaves and abolitionists are suppressed, beaten and killed. The story’s influence is so far-reaching that in 2020 a crater on Pluto’s moon Charon was named Cora after Whitehead’s character. Longlisted for the 2017 Booker Prize, The Underground Railroad possesses phenomenal momentum and moving insights into our society. 

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan 

Esi Edugyan – chair of judges of the Booker Prize 2023 – evocatively portrays the life of George Washington Black, or ‘Wash’, a fictional character with the aptitude to be a great artist and scientist were he not born into slavery on a Barbados plantation in 1818. Wash is granted the potential to partially foster his talents when he comes under the apprenticeship of an eccentric scientist who is the brother of the plantation owner. What follows is the fantastically imaginative, heartrending and compulsively readable story of his growth into early adulthood. Wash encounters many challenges which prevent him from feeling pride in either his body or mind. His journey around the world is both a struggle to fully develop his innate talent as well as a physical quest to survive his restricted circumstances. Edugyan renders his conflicted psychological state with great sympathy throughout this adventurous tale. Additionally, there are stunningly beautiful passages about the natural world and Wash’s scientific study of it. Shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize, this dramatic historical novel contains many surprising twists that made me desperate to discover what happens next. 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 

Don’t be intimidated by the size of this novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023. It’s undoubtably one of the most gripping books of recent years with nearly every chapter ending with a cliffhanger which will keep you turning the pages. Murray’s big contemporary family saga is set in a small Irish town and follows four members of the Barnes family from their very different points of view. They are going through a crisis as a family, as well as having their own serious individual issues which might take them over the edge. The book powerfully deals with economic instability, environmental decline, the sometimes repressive nature of community, infidelity, homophobia, and the silences which exist within the home when family members aren’t honest with each other or themselves. This is all couched within a very dramatic plot with many mysteries and misdirects which make for a thrilling read. This great epic is completely engrossing with a jaw-dropping ending that you’ll be desperate to discuss with other readers.