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Waterstones names Lucy Steeds’ The Artist as Book of the Year
Waterstones has named Lucy Steeds’ debut novel, and winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, The Artist as its Book of the Year for 2025. The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please was also named its Children’s Book of the Year and Padella by Tim Siadatan its Gift of the Year.
A shortlist is created by Waterstones booksellers, where they nominate an outstanding book they particularly enjoyed recommending to readers over the year, before the winners are then decided from that list.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones’ head of books, said: “The announcement of Waterstones Book of the Year is the most exciting point in our bookselling calendar, as we reflect on another year of excellent publishing across genres. This year, our booksellers have chosen a stunning trio of books, which celebrate creativity and craftsmanship while showcasing the power of recommendation to create bestsellers.”
Both Steeds and Please’s books are debuts and their wins were described by Carvalho as “heralding the arrival of two astonishing new talents destined to be read and celebrated for a long time to come”. Padella is the first cookery book to be named a winner since Polpo won the first Book of the Year gong in 2012.
The Artist is set during the 1920s and focuses on an enigmatic painter, the young British journalist set on penning a piece about him and the artist’s seemingly unworldly niece. As the young man sets out to write his piece on the painter, tensions between the three come to a dramatic conclusion.
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Carvalho said: “The Artist is a gorgeously escapist novel that seamlessly transports the reader to the sticky heat of sun-soaked 1920s Southern France, weaving mystery with romance while delving into the complex nature of artistry. Atmospheric, elegant and sensory, it is a novel to be fully swept away by. Lucy Steeds is a writer of staggering, rare talent and it has been a joy to see this bookseller favourite become a word-of-mouth sensation.”
The Café at the Edge of the Woods is a playful and hilarious story about following your dreams, curious food and magical creatures.
Carvalho said: “The Café at the Edge of the Woods bursts with charm and delight, juggling the delicious and the disgusting through addictive rhymes and exquisite illustration. Sweetly slapstick and quirkily surreal, it crams silliness and splendour into every tiniest detail. Rene and Glumfoot are an iconic new double act who children and adults alike will fall for: this is a true treat of a book, which champions the sheer fun to be found in children’s storytelling.”
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Padella has been described as the ultimate pasta-lover’s cookbook from Siadatan, co-owner of London based restaurants Trullo and Padella.
Carvalho said: "Our Gift of the Year, Padella, will be a welcome addition to any kitchen bookshelf: inspiring yet accessible, destined to be thick with oil-splatter like all the most beloved cookbooks. Padella stands out as one of the most stunningly produced books of the year, setting the bar high for designers for the coming years.”
The winners will receive the full and committed backing of Waterstones shops and booksellers across the UK, as well as support online and through its loyalty-card programme, Waterstones Plus.
