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The British Book Awards: Fiction Book of the Year
10 winning novels and 50 more on the shortlists, 2017 to 2026. The other lists in The Novel Index show which of them have lasted.
Latest winner (2026): Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory
The British Book Awards: Fiction Book of the Year is run by The Bookseller and goes to a book published in the UK. It is the most recent of the prizes here and the most commercial, so it’s a good guide to what people are reading now. It also tends to pick books you can start tonight.
Normal People and Hamnet are the easy ones. Girl, Woman, Other is a lively novel told through the lives of many women. The Essex Serpent is a Victorian story with a monster rumour at its centre. James is the toughest of the five, and probably the best.
Winners and shortlists from The Bookseller. The prize's own record · Every book from this prize in the index
The winners the lists rate highest
James is the British Book Awards Fiction winner the other lists rate highest, on 4 other lists.
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When the shortlist outlasted the winner
The widest gap came in 2017, when Days Without End lost to The Essex Serpent: it is now on 5 of our lists, the winner on 4.
Years when a shortlisted novel is now on more of our lists than the book that won.
| Year | Shortlisted | Lists | Winner | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Days Without End Sebastian Barry | 5 | The Essex Serpent | 4 |
| 2023 | The Marriage Portrait Maggie O'Farrell | 3 | Babel | 2 |
Every British Book Awards Fiction winner, year by year
Boleyn Traitor won in 2026. The first winner, in 2017, was The Essex Serpent.
| Year | Winner | Author | Tier | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Boleyn Traitor | Philippa Gregory | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2025 | James | Percival Everett | Rising Star | 5 |
| 2024 | Yellowface | Rebecca F. Kuang | Rising Star | 3 |
| 2023 | Babel | R. F. Kuang | Rising Star | 2 |
| 2022 | Sorrow and Bliss | Meg Mason | Acclaimed | 2 |
| 2021 | Hamnet | Maggie O'Farrell | Rising Star | 4 |
| 2020 | Girl, Woman, Other | Bernardine Evaristo | Essential | 4 |
| 2019 | Normal People | Sally Rooney | Rising Star | 4 |
| 2018 | Reservoir 13 | Jon McGregor | Acclaimed | 2 |
| 2017 | The Essex Serpent | Sarah Perry | Rising Star | 4 |
Lists used on this page
- The 100 best books of the 21st century, The Guardian (2019). Original list
- 100 novels that shaped our world, BBC Arts (2019). Original list
- Booker Prize (winners and shortlists), Booker Prize Foundation (1969-). Original list
- Women's Prize for Fiction (winners and shortlists), Women's Prize Trust (1996-). Original list
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists), Columbia University (1918-). Original list
- Costa (Whitbread) Novel Award (winners and shortlists), Costa (1971-2021). Original list
- Walter Scott Prize (winners and shortlists), Abbotsford Trust (2010-). Original list
- British Book Awards: Fiction Book of the Year (winners and shortlists), The Bookseller (1990-). Original list
- National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists), National Book Foundation (1950-). Original list
- The Big Jubilee Read, BBC Arts and The Reading Agency (2022). Original list
- Goodreads Choice Awards: Fiction and Historical Fiction winners, Goodreads (2009-). Original list
- Richard & Judy Book Club picks, Richard & Judy / WHSmith (2004-). Original list
- Waterstones Book of the Year (winners and shortlists), Waterstones (2012-). Original list