2005 Man Booker Prize for Fiction (Longlist)

Explore the 2005 Man Booker Prize for Fiction longlist, featuring the year's most acclaimed novels. Discover the top literary contenders that captivated readers and critics alike.

The Harmony Silk Factory Cover
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The Harmony Silk Factory

by Tash Aw

Aw's highly original first novel juxtaposes three accounts of the life of an enigmatic man at a pivotal and haunting moment in Malaysian history.
The Sea Cover
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The Sea

by John Banville

Following the death of his wife, Max Morden retreats to the seaside town of his childhood summers, where his own life becomes inextricably entwined with …
Arthur & George Cover
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Arthur & George

by Julian Barnes

Tells the alliance of George, the son of a Midlands vicar, and Arthur a shabby genteel Edinburgh, their adventures, triumphs, and set-backs.
A Long Long Way Cover
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A Long Long Way

by Sebastian Barry

Leaving behind his family in Dublin in order to join the Allied forces during World War I, eighteen-year-old Willie Dunne survives the horrors of war, …
Slow Man Cover
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Slow Man

by J. M. Coetzee

Dependent on others after losing his leg in an accident, sixty-year-old Paul Rayment finds himself falling in love with a down-to-earth Croatian nurse and encouraged …
In the Fold Cover
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In the Fold

by Rachel Cusk

Returning to the site of a garden party where he made some lasting friendships, Michael hopes to escape his troubled marriage and brings along his …
Never Let Me Go Cover
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Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro

A reunion with two childhood friends draws Kathy and her companions on a nostalgic odyssey into their lives at Hailsham, an isolated private school in …
All for Love Cover
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All for Love

by Dan Jacobson

Historical.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian Cover
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

by Marina Lewycka

Two feuding sisters must put aside their differences to protect their father from a gold-digging Ukrainian divorcée.
Beyond Black Cover
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Beyond Black

by Hilary Mantel

Trouble spirals out of control for a psychic and her personal assistant when they take up with a spirit guide and his drowned therapist after …
Saturday Cover
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Saturday

by ian mcewan

A successful, happily married neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne is drawn into a confrontation with Baxter, a small-time thug, following a minor motor vehicle accident on the …
The People's Act of Love Cover
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The People's Act of Love

by James Meek

Historical fable.
Shalimar the Clown Cover
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Shalimar the Clown

by Salman Rushdie

In this gripping international tale of love and revenge, and the ancient and modern conflicts from which they spring, a murder looks at first like …
The Accidental Cover
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The Accidental

by Ali Smith

Talking her way into the Norfolk cottage that the Smart family is renting for the summer, Amber, an enigmatic con artist, insinuates herself into the …
On Beauty Cover
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On Beauty

by Zadie Smith

Struggling with a stale marriage and the misguided passions of his three adult children, long-suffering art professor Howard Belsey finds his family life thrown into …
This is the Country Cover
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This is the Country

by William Wall

In an Ireland far removed from the popular images in travel brochures, a bright teenager is heading for trouble - skipping school and taking drugs, …