Irish author Roisín O'Donnell has been longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction for her debut novel, Nesting.

This year’s longlist includes 16 novels, featuring nine debut authors: Aria Aber, Kaliane Bradley, Saraid de Silva, Sanam Mahloudji, Roisín O’Donnell, Rosanna Pike, Lucy Steeds, Yael van der Wouden, and Nussaibah Younis. For the first time, three small independent presses, Holland House Books, Scotland Street Press, and Weatherglass Books, are represented.

O'Donnell, an award-winning Irish writer, first gained recognition with her 2016 short story collection Wild Quiet. Nesting, set in contemporary Dublin, follows a mother who escapes an abusive relationship with her children, only to face the uncertainty of a collapsing housing system as she tries to rebuild their lives.

The chair of judges, Kit de Waal, praised the selection: "These are important, far-reaching novels where brilliantly realised characters navigate the complexities of families and modern relationships, whilst pushing the boundaries placed around them. It’s a list that readers will devour and shows the echoes of world events on everyday lives as well as the power and brilliance of women writing today."

The shortlist will be announced on April 2, 2025, with the winner revealed on June 12.

The full list in alphabetical order by author surname is:

Good Girl by Aria Aber (published by Bloomsbury)

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (published by Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton, Hachette)

Somewhere Else by Jenni Daiches (published by Scotland Street Press)

Amma by Saraid de Silva (published by Weatherglass Books)

Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings (published by Holland House Books)

All Fours by Miranda July (published by Canongate Books)

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (published by Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury)

The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji (published by 4th Estate, HarperCollins)

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (published by 4th Estate, HarperCollins)

Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell (published by Scribner, Simon & Schuster)

A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike (published by Fig Tree, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)

Birding by Rose Ruane (published by Corsair, Little, Brown Book Group, Hachette)

The Artist by Lucy Steeds (published by John Murray, John Murray Press, Hachette)

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (published by Viking, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (published by Viking, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis (published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing Group, Hachette)