Kirkus Prize for Fiction

Finalists

• Cool Machine Colson Whitehead

  
  Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead
• Eating Ashes Brenda Navarro

  
  Eating Ashes by Brenda Navarro
• John of John Douglas Stuart

  
  John of John by Douglas Stuart
• Kin Tayari Jones

  
  Kin by Tayari Jones
• Luna, Phoenix, Queen Julie Orringer

  
  Luna, Phoenix, Queen by Julie Orringer
• This Is Where the Serpent Lives Daniyal Mueenuddin

  
  This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin

The other finalists

• A Guardian and a Thief Megha Majumdar

  
  A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
• Flesh David Szalay

  
  Flesh by David Szalay
• Isola Allegra Goodman

  
  Isola by Allegra Goodman
• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny Kiran Desai

  
  The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
• The Wilderness Angela Flournoy

  
  The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

The other finalists

• Margo’s Got Money Troubles Rufi Thorpe

  
  Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
• Playground Richard Powers

  
  Playground by Richard Powers
• Prophet Song Paul Lynch

  
  Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
• Say Hello to My Little Friend Jennine Capó Crucet

  
  Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet
• The Mighty Red Louise Erdrich

  
  The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich

The other finalists

• Birnam Wood Eleanor Catton

  
  Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
• Let Us Descend Jesmyn Ward

  
  Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
• The Bee Sting Paul Murray

  
  The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
• White Cat, Black Dog Kelly Link

  
  White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link
• Witness Jamel Brinkley

  
  Witness by Jamel Brinkley

The other finalists

• God’s Children Are Little Broken Things Arinze Ifeakandu

  
  God’s Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu
• Mecca Susan Straight

  
  Mecca by Susan Straight
• Scary Monsters Michelle de Kretser

  
  Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser
• Scattered All Over the Earth Yoko Tawada

  
  Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada
• The Books of Jacob Olga Tokarczuk

  
  The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

The other finalists

• Bolla Pajtim Statovci

  
  Bolla by Pajtim Statovci
• Harlem Shuffle Colson Whitehead

  
  Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
• My Monticello Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

  
  My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
• The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Mariana Enríquez

  
  The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez
• The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

  
  The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

The other finalists

• Black Sunday Tola Rotimi Abraham

  
  Black Sunday by Tola Rotimi Abraham
• Deacon King Kong James McBride

  
  Deacon King Kong by James McBride
• Fiebre Tropical Juliana Delgado Lopera

  
  Fiebre Tropical by Juliana Delgado Lopera
• Shuggie Bain Douglas Stuart

  
  Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
• The Lying Life of Adults Elena Ferrante

  
  The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

The other finalists

• Cantoras Carolina De Robertis

  
  Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis
• Lost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli

  
  Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong

  
  On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• Territory of Light Yūko Tsushima

  
  Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima
• The Other Americans Laila Lalami

  
  The Other Americans by Laila Lalami

The other finalists

• Florida Lauren Groff

  
  Florida by Lauren Groff
• Halsey Street Naima Coster

  
  Halsey Street by Naima Coster
• Heads of the Colored People Nafissa Thompson-Spires

  
  Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
• Tell the Machine Goodnight Katie Williams

  
  Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams
• Mourning Eduardo Halfon
  Mourning by Eduardo Halfon

The other finalists

• Exit West Mohsin Hamid

  
  Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
• Her Body and Other Parties Carmen Maria Machado

  
  Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
• Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward

  
  Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
• The Ninth Hour Alice McDermott

  
  The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
• White Tears Hari Kunzru

  
  White Tears by Hari Kunzru

The other finalists

• A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles

  
  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• Barkskins Annie Proulx

  
  Barkskins by Annie Proulx
• Imagine Me Gone Adam Haslett

  
  Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
• The Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead

  
  The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
• Carousel Court Joe McGinniss Jr.
  Carousel Court by Joe McGinniss Jr.

The other finalists

• A Manual for Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin

  
  A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
• Fates and Furies Lauren Groff

  
  Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
• The Book of Aron Jim Shepard

  
  The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard
• The Incarnations Susan Barker

  
  The Incarnations by Susan Barker
• The Story of My Teeth Valeria Luiselli
  The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli

The other finalists

• Florence Gordon Brian Morton

  
  Florence Gordon by Brian Morton
• The Blazing World Siri Hustvedt

  
  The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
• The Paying Guests Sarah Waters

  
  The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
• The Remedy for Love Bill Roorbach

  
  The Remedy for Love by Bill Roorbach
• All Our Names Dinaw Mengestu
  All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu