Foyles Reveals Its 2026 Book of the Year Shortlist, Including Marlon James and Patrick Radden Keefe

Foyles has revealed its 2026 Book of the Year shortlist, with Marlon James, Patrick Radden Keefe and Julia Donaldson among the authors in contention. The selection features 15 books chosen by the bookseller’s staff, according to The Bookseller’s November 2 report.

The winner will be announced on Thursday, November 26, 2026, Foyles confirms.

For readers building an end-of-year reading list, the appeal is the range. A single shortlist puts literary fiction, investigative nonfiction, translated writing and children’s books within browsing distance of one another. You can arrive looking for a familiar author and leave with something you would never have searched for.

The Full Foyles Book of the Year 2026 Shortlist

These are the 15 shortlisted titles on Foyles’ official announcement page. Translator and illustrator credits are included where listed.

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Marlon James Returns to Jamaica in The Disappearers

Readers who know James through his fantasy novels may find a different entry point here. The Disappearers takes place in Jamaica and begins with eight gay men brought together by a casting call for a play in Kingston in 1988.

An attack on a rehearsal leaves one man dead and the survivors facing injuries, disappearances and the aftermath of homophobic violence. The story follows the consequences of that night and the search for those who vanished, according to Foyles’ book synopsis.

It is a premise that asks readers to consider what survival means beyond escaping an immediate threat: how people live with what happened, and what they need from one another afterward.

The novel is also on the 2026 Booker Prize shortlist. Readers following that award can find the finalists and announcement date in our 2026 Booker Prize shortlist guide.

Patrick Radden Keefe Investigates a Family Tragedy in London Falling

London Falling centers on Zac Brettler, a teenager who died after falling from a luxury apartment building beside the Thames in 2019. His parents’ search for answers revealed that he had been presenting himself as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.

Keefe follows their effort to understand their son’s death while investigating the money, deception and criminal connections surrounding the story. The book’s synopsis presents it as both an account of family loss and an examination of power in London.

That combination gives readers a clear reason to investigate further. The central question concerns one young person’s life, but the surrounding story reaches into the systems and people that made his invented identity possible.

For anyone choosing between these two books, the distinction is straightforward: James offers a novel about violence and its aftermath; Keefe investigates a real death and a family’s attempt to understand it.

How to Use the Shortlist to Find Your Next Read

Our suggestion is to choose one familiar name and one unfamiliar book. Read an extract from each before deciding which to borrow or buy. That approach makes a bookseller shortlist more useful than a checklist of titles to finish.

The books above are contenders. This announcement does not name the eventual winner. Until the result arrives, the most useful question is which book makes you want to turn the first page.

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