NOBODY’S GIRL: A MEMOIR OF SURVIVING ABUSE AND FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE by Virginia Roberts Giuffre (Doubleday £25, 400pp)
THERE are few books that influence events, especially from beyond the grave and by ordinary citizens, but Giuffre’s frank and brave memoir played a major part in the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, being stripped of his titles.
We thought we knew her story but this brings home the full details and sheer horror of her upbringing, betrayed by friends and family whom she believed she could trust.
Giuffre’s death shortly before publication adds to the poignancy of a book which shows her to have been a doughty fighter for justice and to hold the rich and powerful to account.
A worthy No 1 bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic and a book, skilfully ghostwritten by Amy Wallace, whose impact will be felt long after 2025.
ANDREW LOWNIE
Entitled by Andrew Lownie (William Collins, £22) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese (Grove Press UK £10.99, 736pp)
I HAVE just finished what has to be one of the most splendid and absorbing books I have ever read. It is set in Kerala, South India – a fascinating country which I adore and have visited 26 times.
It follows the story of three generations from the turn of the 20th century. I read Verghese’s first novel, Cutting The Stone, some time ago and he is the most extraordinary writer. I often read in bed before going to sleep but with this book I had to force myself to put it down and turn the lights off or I would have been up all night reading!
LADY GLENCONNER
Manners And Mischief by Lady Glenconner (Bedford Square, £18.99) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
YOU ARE HERE by David Nicholls (Sceptre £9.99, 368pp)
THIS hits a sweet spot for me. Nicholls is an author I adore, the Coast to Coast longdistance path is a setting which taps into my love of walking and the characters are so real I feel I’ve met them.
I love the delicate balance of humour and poignancy, the awkwardness of people finding love in adult life and the way Nicholls builds towards an ending that leaves you wanting more.
I also really enjoyed The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo (Simon & Schuster) by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It’s beautifully constructed with a strong, complex woman at the heart whose story is shared with a young reporter. I loved the layers of emotional vulnerability on show and the understanding that a woman can be many things all at the same time while trying to carve her way in an industry that wants her to be just one thing.It’s funny, moving, surprising and hugely enjoyable.
CLARE BALDING
Pastures New by Clare Balding (HarperCollins, £10) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
ON MYSTICISM by Simon Critchley (Profile £11.99, 336pp)
I HAVE been reading this with increasing pleasure. Critchley is a philosophy professor in New York. The book is a history of mysticism but, more interestingly, an investigation into what it is or might be. One big bonus is that it contains thoughtful chapters on some of my favourite writers, such as Anne Carson and Annie Dillard.
I was a little unsure about the book at first – was it some kind of self-help thing? – but have been utterly persuaded both by his wide reading and the sense that this is, for Critchley, a very personal project.
What it’s not is any kind of attempt to sell religion. Another great read this year was Sarah Hall’s new novel, Helm (Faber & Faber)– vivacious, bawdy and endlessly inventive.
And lastly, a very honourable mention for Jenny Erpenbeck’s collection of short essays/articles, Things That Disappear (Granta). Sane, witty and wise. A nice bite-sized introduction to this important European writer.
ANDREW MILLER
The Land In Winter by Andrew Miller (Sceptre, £10.99) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
THE STOLEN CROWN by Tracy Borman (Hodder & Stoughton £26, 448pp)
THIS is a page turner, which seems odd given that the story – how Elizabeth I was succeeded in 1603 by her Scottish godson, who became James I of England – is one of the best known in our history. Balancing scholarship with skulduggery, the book exposes a very British coup, when the English and Scottish elites were plotting to see who came after Elizabeth I.
With secret letters, spies, murders, and doctored documents, The Stolen Crown reads like a political thriller.
GARETH RUSSELL Queen James by Gareth Russell (William Collins, £25) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
DIANAWORLD by Edward White (Allen Lane £25, 400pp)
JUST when we thought there was nothing left to say about the People’s Princess, White comes up with Dianaworld. This humdinger of a cultural history examines Diana through the lens of the obsessives who saw in her a version of themselves. For some gay men, Diana was a gay man, for some drag queens, she was a drag queen, for some Black and Asian women, Diana knew what it was like to be a Black or Asian woman. She also had an army of career lookalikes, who said that they knew what it was like to be Diana.
The most entertainingly bonkers memoir of the year must be Elizabeth Gilbert’s All The Way To The River (Bloomsbury), which begins with the ghost of Gilbert’s junky girlfriend telling her to write about their rollercoaster relationship.
For narrative skill and sheer headlong pleasure, I adored William Boyd’s spy thriller, The Predicament (Viking).
FRANCES WILSON
Electric Spark by Frances Wilson (Bloomsbury Circus, £25) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK by Chris Whitaker (Orion £9.99, 592pp)
I WAS absorbed by this book and went to bed at 8pm for a week to finish it. Based on two childhood friends who are ripped apart by tragedy, it’s a sweeping epic with a serial killer mystery that isn’t afraid to shine a light on the lasting impact trauma has on everyone.
The plotting and world-building made me truly believe in the small town, and every – body living there. I still think about the characters every day, and the prose was gorgeous, too.
HOLLY BOURNE
So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne (Hodder, £9.99) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
THE LAND IN WINTER by Andrew Miller (Sceptre £10.99, 384pp)
HONEST disclosure: Miller was a student of mine at the University of East Anglia in the 1990s, so I read his work with affectionate attention.
This latest novel is worthy of the praise it’s been getting. Miller always seems to chisel away at the strange emotional strata other writers have ignored. He calls this ‘keeping it weird’ and reading him is never a comfort read. But comfort isn’t what we ask of the modern novel.
Here, Miller turns the grindingly ordinary lives of West Country folk caught out by cruel weather into a compelling struggle between man – fixated on his tiny survival rituals – and his awareness of his frailty in a pitiless universe.
Most memorable is the car journey of two drunken, deluded men trying to reach home, crashing and staggering about in a frozen world they utterly fail to understand. It’s both funny and terrifying: Miller at his best.
ROSE TREMAIN
The Housekeeper by Rose Tremain (Chatto & Windus, £20) is published in September 2026.
AFTER OSCAR by Merlin Holland (Europa Editions £30, 687pp)
OSCAR Wilde, play – wright, poet, wit, was imprisoned for gross indecency in 1895. He died in exile and in poverty in Paris 125 years ago, leaving behind two sons who, at the time of his imprisonment, had no idea what had happened to their father. Holland, Wilde’s only grandson, has told the extraordinary story of his legacy in After Oscar.
Part family history, part social and literary history, it’s beautifully written and deeply moving.
Richard Ayoade is one of the great wits of our time and in his delightful Afterthoughts (Faber & Faber) he’s come up with a compendium of wise (and hilarious), nuggets: thoughts for our time like ‘TV detectives need a gimmick. Mine would be not caring who did it,’ and ‘Where’s the box to tick if you are a robot?’
GYLES BRANDRETH
Somewhere, A Boy And A Bear by Gyles Brandreth (Michael Joseph, £25) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
THE MISSION by Tim Weiner (William Collins £25, 464pp)
TWO non-fiction books topped my list this year. Weiner’s The Mission is a compelling, in-depth history of the CIA in the 21st century. Through exclusive interviews with six former directors and dozens of top officers, Weiner paints a portrait of the agency’s transformation into a paramilitary force and highlights its struggle to reclaim its core mission of spying on other great powers.
In The Philosopher In The Valley (Simon & Schuster), Michael Steinberger examines Palantir Technologies, a firm at the fore – front of Big Data and surveillance technology founded in the early 2000s, in part to help the CIA fight the war on terror.
The story follows Alex Karp, philosopher-turned-CEO, as he navigates the ethical complexities of technical surveillance and its implications for privacy. Together, these books provide a bracing view of the modern-day CIA and the technological revolu – tion that is forcing intelligence agencies to adapt their tradecraft and business models.
DAVID McCLOSKEY
The Persian by David McCloskey (Swift Press, £20) is published on January 29 and can be preordered here from the Mail Bookshop.
A TRUCE THAT IS NOT PEACE by Miriam Toews (Fourth Estate £16.99, 192pp)
TOEWS has garnered high praise for her fiction writing – Fight Night is a favourite of mine and Women Talking was adapted into a successful film. In her first non-fiction for 20 years, she examines the bold yet simple question, why does she write? This book is a beautiful collage of letters home to a sister who refuses to talk, memories of a mother who defied her own religious upbringing and quotes that she has held on to.
It offers a complete kaleidoscope of emotions, at once melancholy and hopeful, grief-stricken and life affirming. Toews answers her own question as she goes through her memories, ending with her thoughts on becoming the grandmother of the family. It’s heartfelt, honest and funny. Her life lessons are hard earned, but thankfully for us, she’s written them all down.
CARIAD LLOYD
Lydia Marmalade And The Christmas Wish by Cariad Lloyd (Hodder Children’s Books, £7.99) is out now. She is also a judge for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
The Boy From the Sea by Garrett Car (Picador, £9.99)
Told in a beautiful, hypnotic style: “We were a hardy people, raised facing the Atlantic. A few thousand men, women and children clinging to the coast and trying to stay dry.” This tale of life in a village in Donegal starts in 1973 when a barrel—the kind used for exporting salted fish—washes up on the shore, on top of which is a baby, “pink, eyes wide to the grey sky, well wrapped.”
Ambrose the fisherman and his wife, Christine, adopt the baby boy and bring him up as their own. We see the challenges of family life —across the generations—and the struggle to make a living in the fishing industry, as Ambrose is forced to take his small boat perilously far out to achieve a decent catch. Despite these, there is much humour and a real warmth here that reminds us of the strength and goodness of community.
Nina Stibbe
Went to London, Took the Dog (Picador, £10.99) is available now from the Mail Bookshop. She is also a judge for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm by Charlie Mackesy
I absolutely loved Charlie Mackesy’s first book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and his follow up Always Remember is just as good. It’s beautifully illustrated by Charlie, and the perfect book to dip into when you only have a few minutes to yourself. I love it and it’s brilliant for any age, my kids also love reading it and looking at the illustrations.
Charlie has filled the pages with positivity so it’s a great book to have to hand if you find yourself at a low ebb as it’s a book that will lift you up. I also love Charlie’s drawings of the animals and the natural world, and his ability to capture the essence of friendship, kindness and love. It’s full of heart and the perfect gift for Christmas to put a smile on someone’s face.
Christmas Tales from the Farm by Amanda Owen (The Yorkshire Shepherdess) (Puffin, £9.99) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
A Neighbour’s Guide to Murder by Louise Candish (HQ, £16.99)
I’ve read some crackers this year and I always struggle to pick just one, so I’m going for two!
A Neighbour’s Guide to Murder by Louise Candlish tells of Gwen, a retiree living in the beautiful, iconic Columbia Mansions striking up an unlikely friendship with neighbour Pixie. When Gwen discovers young, enchanting Pixie is embroiled in a sex-for-rent scandal, her protective instincts go into overdrive. This smartly constructed page-turner is sensationally entertaining. Gwen is one of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever read. This darkly witty, unsettling story will stay with you.
The Death of Us by Abigail Dean is the story of a mid-life couple were victims of a vicious, home invasion attack when they were in their thirties and ever since have struggled to put that day behind them. When their attacker is finally caught, they must face what happened. This incredible story is ostensibly about a violent attack, but really about love and survival. Don’t miss this book.
Adele Parks
Our Beautiful Mess by Adele Parks (HQ, £16.99) is available now from the Mail Bookshop.
AUDITION by Katie Kitamura (Fern Press £18.99, 208pp)
LET me make a nod to two different novels. The first is Kitamura’s Audition, which covers the theatre and actors, and asks how much we are performing in intimate relation – ships in our lives. It is a non-traditional narrative in the sense that the novel’s ‘reality’ is elusive and evolving. A woman, a well-known actor, goes to lunch with a young man, who might be her colleague, her lover or her son in the different versions that unspool.
I loved Ron Currie’s thriller, The Savage Noble Death Of Babs Dionne (Atlantic). The set-up, about drug-dealing gangsters, is familiar, but from there the novel departs. How many books have you read about the French-descended residents of Maine, a mistreated minority? Or about a crime organisation whose members are female?
SCOTT TUROW
Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow (Swift, £9.99) is out in paperback now.
Compiled by JAMES CAREY-DOUGLAS
