The 30th edition of the Women’s Prize for Fiction spotlights multi-layered stories with themes of personal freedom and human connection
Renowned female authors such as Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter and Agatha Christie did not rise to fame overnight. They were denied publishing rights multiple times before their works were finally introduced to the world. Even after centuries battling for a place in the literary universe, female authors continue to struggle for recognition by established institutions. Hence, the Women’s Prize for Fiction was founded in 1996 to spotlight fiction written in English by women and published in the UK. This came after no women writers made the 1991 Booker Prize shortlist.
This year, the prize was awarded to Yael van der Wouden. A lecturer in creative writing and comparative literature, she conceived the idea for The Safekeep as a parting gift for her Dutch grandparents who died within days of each other in 2021. “It came from a place of trying to escape grief,” she says.
Set in the Netherlands in 1961, the novel presents a love story between two women with distinct backgrounds and personalities. After WWII, Isabel lives a solitary life of discipline and strict routine in her late mother’s country home.
This changes after her brother introduces her to his new girlfriend, who is on a brief visit as a guest. Eva challenges Isabel’s excessive need for control over everything:
She sleeps late, walks loudly through the house and touches things she should not. Through Isabel, the author creates a character with a strong sense of prejudice and repulsion before those emotions turn into desire.
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In her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony on June 12, Van der Wouden revealed that she is intersex (a person born with physical characteristics that do not align with the typical definition of either male or female). “I was a girl until I turned 13, and then as I hit puberty, all that was supposed to happen did not quite happen, or if it did happen, it happened too much,” she shared. Hence, she dedicated her win to those “who fought for healthcare, who changed the system, the law, societal standards, themselves. I stand on their shoulders”.
The following are the five other authors whose works were shortlisted for the prize:
Good Girl by Aria Aber
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US-based German-born poet and writer Aria Aber makes a powerful debut with Good Girl, which follows the story of 19-year-old Nila, a rebellious daughter of Afghan doctors who fled their country and found a new home in Berlin. Displacement, freedom and disenchantment are at the heart of this coming-of-age novel as Nila tries to throw off the shackles of her cultural heritage by engaging in endless activities at underground clubs, parties and festivals. Through the protagonist, who pushes off her family, childhood friends and college education to pursue her creative work and a disastrous relationship, Aber questions what it means to be a dual-culture daughter.
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Veteran author Elizabeth Strout has been carving out a literary career with stories about ordinary people in ordinary settings since 1998. A sequel to her 2022 novel Lucy by the Sea, Tell Me Everything is her 10th work drawing on the same themes. Its three protagonists are 65-year-old lawyer Bob Burgess, 90-year-old retired schoolteacher Olive Kitteridge and middle-aged fiction writer Lucy Barton. Although the genre is murder mystery — a lonely man has been accused of killing his mother — Strout weaves in emotional aspects through new-found friendships, old loves and the human desire to leave behind a legacy, delving into individual characters and how they play a role in a world that relies heavily on a sense of community.
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
At the core of Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis is a powerful friendship between two women formed based on their common backgrounds, personalities and interests: Both are Muslims, feisty and opinionated, with a shared love of dairy milk and rude pick-up lines. Nadia Amin, a young lecturer who has garnered global attention for asking controversial questions in her academic paper on the exploitation of ISIS women, accepts a job in Iraq where she meets Sara, a British Asian who is drawn into radicalisation at 15. As the plot unfolds, the characters are forced to face their personal struggles. Nadia vows to bring Sara home until she learns a reason that stops her from doing so. While the novel explores heavy subjects, Younis approaches the story with humour and confidence, captivating critics with her wit and clever storytelling.
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The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
Sanam Mahloudji’s The Persians zooms into the life of five women from a once-respected Iranian family who become nobodies after migrating to the US. This multigenerational saga captures the voices of the characters across 80 years as they deal with radical personal and political shifts. Elizabeth, the matriarch, insists that her two daughters flee the country during the 1979 revolution. Shirin and Seema are barely happy with their lives in Los Angeles and Houston respectively, while Seema’s law student daughter Bita and Shirin’s daughter Niaz have to deal with their own struggles as the youngest generation in the clan. Packed with humour and history, The Persians frames the portrait of a unique family in crisis, exploring the themes of love, money and a sense of belonging.
All Fours by Miranda July
The unnamed narrator’s attempt to turn her life around by making a cross-country road trip from Los Angeles to New York forms the basis of All Fours by American film director and screenwriter Miranda July. On a quest for a new kind of freedom, the 45-year-old semi-famous artist leaves her husband and child behind as she heads for the freeway to find home in a nondescript motel with a man she has just met, causing upheavals in her marriage. When the book came out in May last year, it raised eyebrows for tackling topics normally left unmentioned in discussions about women’s issues. But July does not shy away from exploring difficult matters in her movies and books.
“The risk was worth it,” she told The Guardian after making the 2025 Women’s Prize shortlist.
