LITERATURE
November Book Club Charlotte Griffiths rummages through the Booker Prize 2025 longlist for some gripping reads
Endling At first, scientist Yeva only got involved with the so-called ‘romance tours’ to fund her research. Her beauty and skill at hosting western men who’d been bussed into Ukraine in search of love made this an easy way of raising much-needed cash for her mobile lab and its inhabitants: 276 endangered snails. Then, eighteen-year-old Nastia, who’d infiltrated the romance tours in an effort to bring the global bridal industry down from the inside, thinks Yeva’s lab would be the perfect vehicle for abducting a set of ‘bachelors’ – men who come from across the world to try their luck with Kyiv’s legendarily beautiful women. But suddenly, it’s two days since the Russians have invaded the country, and Yeva and Nastia don’t know that everything is about to change. The titular ‘endlings’ are creatures that are the last of their kind, doomed to live out their days hopelessly alone, without any possibility of reproduction or salvation. Yeva, however, finds a note of hope and is determined to unite her snails with potential partners, no matter the danger to herself or the occupants of her lab. A stunningly smart, unforgettable novel which uncomfortably prods at your expectations, and effortlessly demonstrates the real, everyday, all- too-human cost of global conflict. It’s two days since the Russians have invaded, and everything is about to change MARIA REVA
Universality This is only Brown’s second novel after her brilliant debut Assembly published four years ago, and following the first’s example, it’s slim, satirical and spares no punches. Universality opens with a newspaper-style account of a surreal attack on a man named Pegasus, who was almost bludgeoned to death with a solid-gold bar in the middle of a lockdown rave on a farm, where he was leading a revolutionary commune. We then meet Hannah, the formerly struggling journalist who crafted the viral longread, as she hosts a dinner party to celebrate the article being optioned for TV. But NATASHA BROWN
her ‘friends’ aren’t as celebratory as she might have hoped. Next to enter the story is Richard, the farm’s landlord who has had his life turned upside down by the article’s success; and finally, the unforgettable character of Miriam ‘Lenny’ Leonard, an acerbic columnist who has just started at The Observer after a long tenure at The Telegraph – and has plenty to say on that and all subjects. This non-linear narrative is a sideways look at truth, exploring how words can bend it, and the danger of trusting those in positions of power, especially in the media. Magnificent stuff.
24 NOVEMBER 2025 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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