Percival Everett’s James won this category for his blazing reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. For our judges, James is a “future classic”, a “gripping, “stunning” and “beautifully executed” story.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and winner of the National Book Award for Fiction in 2024, Everett’s 24th novel is “full of wit and emotion”. Our judges were impressed with Mantle’s efforts to break him out of a small literary readership; James’ “vibrant” – and now iconic – orange book jacket with its vivid typography was a bold move from the publisher that “instantly brought the story up to date”.

Our judges agreed that Mantle’s full might was put behind publication with eight sold-out events in six days, plus appearances on the Waterstones and Hatchards podcasts, which helped secure Everett’s first-ever Sunday Times best- seller position. When crowning James the winner, our panel agreed that the story delivers “the message the world needs right now”.