Here are the 16 novels on the Women's Prize for Fiction 2026 longlist! A new video is up on my YouTube channel unboxing and discovering each of these titles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkJPxwYL3ng

What an intriguing and diverse group of books! I'm so thrilled to see “The Benefactors”, “Audition” and “Flashlight” listed – especially Erskine's novel as it feels like this impactful portrayal of a community and the way different individuals react to a crime deserves more attention. There are other books included such as “A Guardian and a Thief”, “Heart the Lover”, “The Correspondent” and “Wild Dark Shore” that I've been wanting to read. It's surprising to see “Moderation” on the list because I felt there are good elements to this story but its central premise concerning a romance and venture in to virtual reality fell flat for me. And there are many other books I'm not familiar with and which I'm eager to discover now.

I was glad I read Lily King's “Writers & Lovers” at the start of this year as “Heart the Lover” is both a prequel and sequel to that first novel. It's made me look forward to reading more about writer Casey's life. I'm most excited to get to “A Guardian and a Thief” and “A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing” but I've started reading “Gloria Don't Speak” first.