There’s a certain art to a good plot twist. It takes a skilled writer to be able to truly shock a reader, guiding them in one direction, all the while preparing a surprise in another. The craft lies in subtle foreshadowing, avoiding obvious clichés while striking the right balance between unpredictability and a convincing revelation. It’s this alchemy that transforms a good story into an unforgettable one. 

These nine books, all nominated for the Booker Prize, showcase some of the best twists in fiction, featuring past mistakes, disturbing truths, shocking disclosures and heartbreaking consequences. But rest assured – there are no spoilers ahead! 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 

An epic, tragicomic saga set within an ordinary Irish household, The Bee Sting revolves around four members of the Barnes family. There’s car salesman Dickie, who is facing financial ruin, and Imelda, whose troubles are hidden behind a facade of beauty. Their once high-achieving teenage daughter Cass starts to go off the rails just in time for her final exams, while their misunderstood and sensitive son PJ plans on running away from home to escape a local bully. As perspectives shift and each family member struggles to hold things together, their circumstances slowly deteriorate as more and more secrets are revealed, each more dramatic than the last. Paul Murray’s novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize last year, comes together to form a shocking if deliberately opaque ending: a tense cliffhanger which leaves the reader unsure of what exactly has just transpired. 

The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier, translated by Daniel Levin Becker 

Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023, The Birthday Party unfolds like a home-invasion horror movie in super-slow-motion. Taking place over just one day in a remote French hamlet, this psychological thriller-of-sorts, constructed in very, very long sentences, follows rough-and-ready farmer Patrice, his wife Marion, who is about to turn 40, their daughter Ida, their artist neighbour Christine – and a couple of uninvited guests. Patrice is putting the finishing touches to a surprise party for Marion when everything starts to unravel and buried secrets come bubbling to the surface. Mauvignier repeatedly allows the tension to build in almost unbearable fashion, before suddenly switching perspectives, leaving the reader facing one breathless cliffhanger after another, before events reach their climactic and nail-biting conclusion. 

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes 

Imperfect memories – edited, deleted and rewritten – are the focus of Julian Barnes’ 2011 Booker Prize-winning novel, which was adapted for the big screen in 2017. Tony Webster, a middle-aged retiree, finds his tranquil life disrupted as two childhood friends re-enter his life, along with a mysterious lawyer’s letter. Through a tangled web of guilt, remorse and personal responsibility, Tony is forced to confront the messy events of his youth. With a twist you almost certainly won’t see coming, The Sense of an Ending examines the subjectivity of truth, while Barnes, through one of modern fiction’s most unreliable narrators, shows we are never best placed to tell the story of our own lives. 

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle 

Shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and adapted as a Netflix film in 2023, Elena Knows follows a middle-aged mother who is determined to overcome her physical constraints in order to find out what happened to her daughter Rita, who has been found dead in the bell tower of a church. When, frustratingly, the investigation into her death is closed down by the authorities, Elena embarks upon a quest across Buenos Aires to uncover the truth, but is slowed down by her debilitating Parkinson’s disease. This thought-provoking crime novel, which tackles multiple social and political issues, interweaves present-day events with flashbacks and memories, while Piñeiro expertly teases the reader with details that build towards a heartbreaking revelation. 

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh 

Eileen, the titular character at the heart of this 2016 Booker Prize-shortlisted novel is a deeply unstable young woman. Uncomfortable in her own skin, insecure and emotionally repressed, she lives with her abusive, alcoholic father and works at a juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys. She wants nothing more than to escape. But when a glamorous new work colleague arrives and the two strike up a friendship, Eileen is offered a glimmer of hope. It’s not long before events take a dark turn, and Eileen finds herself complicit in a chilling crime. Another book with an unreliable narrator at the helm, Eileen masterfully explores the depths of a troubled mind – and then wrongfoots readers with a sinister twist.  

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 

Never Let Me Go follows the lives of three childhood friends – Kathy, Ruth and Tommy – during their school days at an English boarding school. Curiously, they are not allowed any contact with the outside world until they’re 16. Slowly, the trio begin to discover their true – and disturbing – purpose in life and the dark secret at the heart of the school. Shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize, Ishiguro’s bleak and terrifying dystopia asks big questions about what it means to live a full life when you know it will be cut short, and whether one person’s happiness requires the suffering of another. In 2010, the novel made its way to the big screen in an all-star production starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley.  

Atonement by Ian McEwan 

Shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize, Atonement revolves around 13-year-old Briony Tallis’s misinterpretation of a romantic encounter between sister and her lover, leading to dire consequences and altering the lives of everyone involved. Set across three distinct time periods – from the start of the Second World War to the end of the twentieth century – Atonement delves into the notion of responsibility, innocence and guilt as Briony comes to terms with the repercussions of her actions. Ian McEwan’s complex tale of wrongdoing culminates in a shocking metafictional twist that transforms the entire experience of reading the novel. 

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters 

Sarah Waters’ tale of deception and unexpected secrets follows Sue Trinder, an orphan raised by an adoptive mother in a den of thieves. Sue becomes embroiled in a scheme to deceive a wealthy heiress, but when emotions unexpectedly become involved, her plans begin to go awry. With a twist you couldn’t possibly predict, this gripping Victorian-era mystery is an edge-of-your-seat read, and was shortlisted for the 2002 Booker Prize. 

Possession by A.S. Byatt 

Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize, A.S. Byatt’s captivating novel follows two academics, Roland Michell and Maud Bailey, as they research the lives of a pair of famous Victorian poets, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Alternating between the present day and the Victorian era, Possession includes various letters, diary entries and poetry which provide insights into the scandalous lives of the two poets. A trail of secrets leads to a startling revelation, and the scholars find themselves entangled in a mystery of untold truths.