What is the best novel on the 2026 Booker Prize shortlist?

Two past winners, a returning name, two first-time shortlistees and a debut novelist make up the final six. Choose between pairs before the judges name theirs.

1. 1
   John of John

   Douglas Stuart's 2026 novel about a young man who returns from art school in Edinburgh to his strict father on the Isle of Harris in the 1990s, from the author of the 2020 winner Shuggie Bain.
2. 2
   The Things We Never Say

   Elizabeth Strout's 2026 novel about a history teacher in Massachusetts, which returned her to the shortlist after Oh William! in 2022.
3. 3
   The Disappearers

   Marlon James's 2026 historical novel about gay men in 1980s Kingston, Jamaica, from the author of the 2015 winner A Brief History of Seven Killings.
4. 4
   The End of Everything

   M. John Harrison's 2026 speculative novel set in a post-apocalyptic Britain, his first time on the Booker shortlist.
5. 5
   Black Bag

   Luke Kennard's 2026 campus novel about a struggling actor hired to sit through a term of university lectures inside a leather sack.
6. 6
   May We Feed the King

   Rebecca Perry's 2026 debut novel, moving between a modern curator recreating scenes at a former palace and a medieval royal court; the only debut on the shortlist.

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