The Booker Prizes’ aim has always been to inspire people to read the world’s best fiction. Every reader knows the pleasure of being thoroughly absorbed by a great book. But what qualifies a book to be declared the ‘best’ is a matter of contention and usually depends on what kind of reading experience is desired.  

Some readers most appreciate fiction that is immediately enjoyable, easy to comprehend and adheres to certain forms of literature. Others seek more complex writing that presents a pleasurable challenge, or even invents a new way of telling a story. However, the notion that a rollicking good tale is somehow incompatible with literary excellence has been continuously disproven by titles selected by Booker judges over the years. Authors such as Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro and Elif Shafak have produced many riveting bestsellers that are also critically acclaimed. 

Debate was sparked when Michael Portillo, chair of judges for the 2008 Booker Prize, presented that year’s shortlist and declared: ‘We have brought you fun.’ Some raised their eyebrows in 2023 when Leïla Slimani, chair of judges for the International Booker Prize, presented that year’s shortlist stating, ‘I think it’s a very cool, very sexy list.’ These announcements led to accusations that the prize was nominating books based on readability and popularity over literary merit. Such quarrels have been dismissed by authors such as former Booker winner Julian Barnes, who reasoned ‘It’s a false argument… All great writers are readable.’ Similarly, Stephen Kelman, author of the 2011 Booker-shortlisted Pigeon English, said, ‘I don’t get the idea that readability and quality should be mutually exclusive. I think they should be combined.’ 

Here is a selection of novels which brilliantly accomplish this literary alchemy. These are stories with attention-seizing plots which also stir the imagination and intellect with their unique styles. Any concern that a prize-worthy book must be dense and difficult will be dispelled by the truly captivating reading experience that these books provide. Not only are they thoroughly immersive, but they leave the reader with plenty to ponder. 

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

Though this innovative novel follows an American spy who infiltrates an anti-capitalist French commune, it is unlike any other tales of espionage. Supremely confident narrator Sadie is not the typical sympathetic government agent, but a sleuth hired by a corporation to assist in foiling protestors who threaten new agribusiness projects. To do this she lies and seduces her way into the rural commune Le Moulin with the intention of entrapping its members and stopping them from impeding the company’s plans to divert the local farmers’ water supply. 

Sadie’s catty asides and exchanges with her new gay bestie Vito are wickedly funny, but it’s also terrifying following her schemes which include heartless betrayals and a cynical disregard for the environment and humanity. 

Kushner was partly inspired by real undercover policing relationship scandals from recent decades. Sadie also becomes more introspective as she closely monitors the emails of the community’s mysterious cave-dwelling mentor Bruno Lacombe who believes human evolution went radically off course after the extinction of Neanderthals. As Sadie falls under the sway of this guru’s musings, the reader is kept in suspense over whether her cover will be blown or if she will succeed in her mission. It’s a contemplative and riveting story with an awe-inspiring climax.

Waterland by Graham Swift

When his department and role at a school come under question, history teacher Tom Crick sets aside the usual curriculum to confide in his students stories that are about the marshland region of his youth and his own family’s past. Many of these are scandalous tales involving madness, jealousy, incest, murder and kidnapping. At the centre of the book is a haunting incident from Tom’s youth when a local boy drowned in the river where his father worked as a lock-keeper. The truth about that death is gradually revealed alongside many other fascinating historical details from the Fenlands of eastern England. However, Swift masterfully weaves into this pressing mystery an investigation into the nature of history itself and its importance in the present. Though it may be challenging at times to keep up with this book’s fragmented timeline, it ultimately builds to a satisfyingly complex understanding of the way a life is one of many tributaries which feed into the wider body of the past. This artful novel, shortlisted for the 1983 Booker Prize, is packed with intrigue, harrowing family strife and a fascinating philosophical examination of eels. 

Lies of Silence by Brian Moore

Brian Moore’s 1990 Booker-shortlisted novel is instantly thrilling because its protagonist, Michael Dillon, is presented with an impossible choice. As a hotel manager in Belfast, he’s instructed by the IRA to park his car, which contains a concealed bomb, at his hotel – where it will probably kill dozens of people. They emphasise that if he fails to do this his wife will be killed. The result of this crisis leads to a terrifying personal and moral conundrum as Dillon becomes caught in a media blitz and the political turmoil of his native Northern Ireland. All he really wants is to settle somewhere far away from the Troubles with the woman he loves and to rekindle his early passion for writing poetry. However, like the wider conflict, there are no easy answers. The heart-pounding suspense of this story is imbued with an intelligent examination of the role of personal responsibility in a dispute so large it feels like there are no correct options. 

Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller 

The blurred line between love and passionate obsession drives the engrossing story of Zoe Heller’s 2003 Booker-shortlisted novel. Though, on the surface, it’s about a scandalous affair between married female teacher, Sheba, and her underage male pupil, Steven, the notes which form this narrative are written by Sheba’s older colleague, Barbara, who is a lonely history teacher nearing retirement. Barbara gleefully keeps an account of the scandal, replete with gold stars to highlight important events and a studiously recorded timeline. When Sheba’s illicit affair comes out in the open, she quickly loses everything of importance. All the while, Barbara schemes to become Sheba’s closest friend and confidant. Her passionate engagement in the mess of Sheba’s life is complicated by the fact Barbara has previously alienated numerous female companions. There’s a mounting tension as we’re led down psychological corridors which have been twisted by intense ardour. It’s a riveting tale about power, consent and social isolation with a narrator who is definitely not to be trusted. 

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

The addictive driving force of Sarah Waters’ 2006 Booker-shortlisted novel is not the question of what will happen to her characters. Instead, the narrative enticingly gives a reverse chronology to describe formative events in the lives of a group who’ve been indelibly changed by the events of the Second World War and the social constraints of the time. As sections of the book jump back through the 1940s, mysteries and secrets are gradually revealed. Pronouncements made during formative years take on a chilling irony. The heroic efforts, personal lives and love affairs of Waters’ compelling cast of mostly queer individuals are set against the intensity of air raids and emergency services in wartime London. Discovering what underpins the tender lassitude which consumes much of their later lives is both a heartrending and exhilarating process which makes this finely nuanced novel impossible to put down. As with all great books, when I finished reading the final page I immediately wanted to turn back to the beginning to read it all over again. 

Room by Emma Donoghue 

It’s notoriously difficult for authors to write convincingly from a child’s perspective, but Emma Donoghue carries it off with aplomb in this nail-biting Booker-shortlisted novel from 2010. Five-year-old Jack has never been outside of the locked single room that he and his mother inhabit. Because it’s all he’s ever known, Jack believes that this is the only reality which exists, while the external world which he sees on television is a fantasy. The only other person who enters the room is ‘Old Nick’ who visits at night while Jack hides in the wardrobe. As the reasons for their captivity gradually become apparent, his mother cleverly plans a way for them to finally gain their freedom and introduce Jack to a life beyond their confined existence. This dark tale shows how precious the bond between mother and child becomes in extreme circumstances. The novel’s thrilling story is made all the more potent as it’s related through Jack’s confused, innocent and utterly persuasive point of view. 

The North Water by Ian McGuire 

Some of the greatest epics are seafaring adventures and this 2016 Booker-longlisted novel is a supreme modern example of the tradition. It’s the dramatic fictional account of a Yorkshire whaling ship’s treacherous ocean journey up the coast of Greenland during the mid-1800s. Irish surgeon Patrick Sumner joins the vessel on its mission to hunt whales and skin polar bears. But others on the crew have very different reasons for joining the voyage. As they journey into the treacherous iceberg-laden waters, Patrick and the crew face perils both within and outside of their ship. It’s utterly immersive as it viscerally describes the feeling of being trapped in a snowstorm, or the pungent smell of sailors long at sea. This is a hyper-masculine environment filled with violence, yet the author skilfully draws distinctions between men who are ruled by selfish instinct and those who possess sensitivity and a moral conscience. Through the gripping descriptions of the most brutal acts imaginable emerges a tale of self-transformation and survival. 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 

In this alternate history of 19th century America, Colson Whitehead ingeniously invents a real underground rail transport system (as opposed to the historical network of secret routes) which leads to safe houses for escaped slaves. We follow Cora, who flees from a southern plantation to journey along this railway through a number of states and communities, all of which have distinct social characteristics and exhibit different forms of prejudice. She is pursued by a vicious slave catcher who is motivated by profit and a belief that America belongs to whites. Cora’s travels and intellectual development elucidate strategies for survival in a country plagued by deeply embedded prejudices. This is a novel which is both fantastical for the way it invents a physical underground system and starkly realistic for the brutality with which slaves and abolitionists are suppressed, beaten and killed. The story’s influence is so far-reaching that in 2020 a crater on Pluto’s moon Charon was named Cora after Whitehead’s character. Longlisted for the 2017 Booker Prize, The Underground Railroad possesses phenomenal momentum and moving insights into our society. 

The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith 

There’s a tremendous intensity and haunting power to this novel which won the 2016 International Booker and centres around a woman whose voice is never directly conveyed but whose presence is made known through accounts of people closely connected to her. The story begins with a conventional man complaining that his wife, Yeong-hye, has suddenly become a vegetarian and has thus disrupted their blandly ordered existence. While he loudly declares his cruel and reductive opinions about his wife, she remains silent. Like a modern-day Bartleby, by resisting to observe convention and quietly refusing to do what’s expected of her, the wife infuriates those around her, and her life completely changes. In some ways this is a surreal story where a woman believes that she is gradually transforming into a plant. At the same time it’s a brutally realistic tale about the long-term effects of child abuse and the diminishment of women in society. The Vegetarian conveys a powerful sense of rebellion and hope as the constrictive family around this central character is forced to acknowledge the power of her independent perspective. 

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan 

Esi Edugyan – chair of judges of the Booker Prize 2023 – evocatively portrays the life of George Washington Black, or ‘Wash’, a fictional character with the aptitude to be a great artist and scientist were he not born into slavery on a Barbados plantation in 1818. Wash is granted the potential to partially foster his talents when he comes under the apprenticeship of an eccentric scientist who is the brother of the plantation owner. What follows is the fantastically imaginative, heartrending and compulsively readable story of his growth into early adulthood. Wash encounters many challenges which prevent him from feeling pride in either his body or mind. His journey around the world is both a struggle to fully develop his innate talent as well as a physical quest to survive his restricted circumstances. Edugyan renders his conflicted psychological state with great sympathy throughout this adventurous tale. Additionally, there are stunningly beautiful passages about the natural world and Wash’s scientific study of it. Shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize, this dramatic historical novel contains many surprising twists that made me desperate to discover what happens next. 

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes 

There’s a thrilling, propulsive intensity to Hurricane Season. Shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize, the novel centres around a mysterious murder in a small Mexican village. A notorious individual who is found floating dead in a body of water is only referred to as ‘the Witch’. The locals claim she had mystical powers to cast spells and that she regularly hosted depraved orgies; there are also rumours that she hoarded vast quantities of rare coins and valuable jewels in her home. This makes her a figure of high intrigue, as well as a target for attack. The dramatic events and circumstances which lead to her death are gradually revealed through a series of mesmerising accounts from several individuals acquainted with her, many of them teenagers engaged in very adult situations. In reading the dizzying fervour of their stories we get a wider view of a deeply troubled community. The effect is utterly hypnotic and gripping. 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 

Don’t be intimidated by the size of this novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023. It’s undoubtably one of the most gripping books of recent years with nearly every chapter ending with a cliffhanger which will keep you turning the pages. Murray’s big contemporary family saga is set in a small Irish town and follows four members of the Barnes family from their very different points of view. They are going through a crisis as a family, as well as having their own serious individual issues which might take them over the edge. The book powerfully deals with economic instability, environmental decline, the sometimes repressive nature of community, infidelity, homophobia, and the silences which exist within the home when family members aren’t honest with each other or themselves. This is all couched within a very dramatic plot with many mysteries and misdirects which make for a thrilling read. This great epic is completely engrossing with a jaw-dropping ending that you’ll be desperate to discuss with other readers. 

The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark

What if instead of being a hapless victim, a woman destined to die were to take control of her own fate? Early in this 1970 novella it’s revealed that heroine Lise will be murdered. Therefore the story becomes an inventive ‘whydunnit’ as the narrative follows events leading to Lise’s death, alongside police interviews with people she encounters prior to her inevitable demise. Lise takes a holiday from her tedious job at an accountancy firm to travel to an unspecified South European city. She revels in dressing garishly, acting spontaneously and confronting anyone who impedes her mysterious journey to meet an illusory boyfriend. It’s a startlingly unique psychological thriller as she encounters lascivious men, labyrinthine shopping malls and violent student protests. With her customary dark wit and lively prose, Spark tells a story that creatively confronts the issues of illness, self-destruction and mortality. The Driver’s Seat was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker, a special prize in 2010 for previously ineligible titles, and it was also made into an excellent 1974 film in which Elizabeth Taylor brilliantly embodied this enticingly peculiar and emotionally volatile character.