The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction revealed its 2025 shortlist, with six authors in contention for the annual U.K. award named after the Scottish novelist.
Yael van der Wouden was named a finalist for The Safekeep, her novel about a Dutch woman in 1961 who has a contentious relationship with her brother’s new girlfriend. The book is also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Aspen Words Literary Prize and was a finalist for the Booker Prize.
Kevin Barry was shortlisted for The Heart in Winter, his novel set in 1891 Montana. Angharad Hampshire was named a finalist for The Mare, based on the life of Hermine Braunsteiner, the first Nazi war criminal to be extradited from the U.S. to West Germany to stand trial.
Francesca Kay was named a finalist for The Book of Days, set in 16th-century England, alongside Ferdia Lennon for Glorious Exploits, which takes place in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War, and Andrew Miller for The Land in Winter, about two couples in England during the brutal “Big Freeze” of 1962–1963.
The Walter Scott Prize was established in 2010. Previous winners include Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall and The Mirror & the Light and Lucy Caldwell for These Days.
The winner of this year’s award will be announced at a ceremony in Melrose, Scotland, on June 12.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
