Women’s prize for fiction 2025: six experts review the shortlisted novels

By Éadaoin Agnew, Senior lecturer in English literature, Kingston University
Alexandra Peat, Lecturer in the School of English, Media and Creative Arts, University of Galway
Elizabeth J Kuti, Professor in the Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex
Manjeet Ridon, Associate Dean International, Faculty of Arts, Design & Humanities, De Montfort University
Rehana Ahmed, Reader in Postcolonial and Contemporary Literature, Queen Mary University of London

From a longlist of 16, six novels have been shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s prize for fiction. Our experts review the finalists ahead of the announcement of the winner on June 12.

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

The Safekeep, a novel about the expropriation and theft of Jewish property during and after the second world war, revisits a dark chapter of Dutch history.

When Holland fell to Nazi Germany, many Dutch Jews were deported to the death camps and were stripped of their homes and belongings. Van der Wouden’s debut novel shines alight on the act…

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