The 2024 International Booker Prize

The winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize is KAIROS by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann. Erpenbeck becomes the first German writer to win the prize (she was longlisted in 2018), and Hofmann is the first male translator to win it.

The novel, which was originally written in German, follows a destructive affair between a young woman and an older man in 1980s East Berlin, with the two lovers seemingly embodying East Germany’s crushed idealism. A meditation on hope and disappointment, KAIROS poses complex questions about freedom, loyalty, love and power.

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Stuart Turton, author of The Last Murder at the End of the World

Outside the island, there is nothing. The world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.

On the island, it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists are living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.

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Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s

Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for 42 years --- and married to American history even longer. In his 20s, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his 30s, he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a 24-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir. The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than 50 years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction that they could make a difference.

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Kate White, author of The Last Time She Saw Him

As Kiki Reed heads out to a party at a friend’s house in the Connecticut countryside, she’s more than a little nervous. Her ex-fiancé, Jamie, will be attending, and she hasn’t seen him since she broke his heart a few months earlier. But when they come face to face, their exchange is brief and pleasant, which is a huge relief. Then, as the party is winding down, a noise pierces the night. The last few guests run outside to find Jamie inside his car, dead from a gunshot wound. Shocked and grieving, Kiki learns that the police believe Jamie took his own life, but she knows he was moving on from the breakup and just doesn’t believe it. Determined to find the truth, she searches for any evidence that will get the police to take her seriously. But as she peels away the layers, she uncovers something far more sinister than she’d imagined --- and it may be her life on the line next.

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Harlan Coben, author of Think Twice

Three years ago, sports agent Myron Bolitar gave a eulogy at the funeral of his client, renowned basketball coach Greg Downing. Myron and Greg had history: initially as deeply personal rivals, and later as unexpected business associates. Myron made peace and moved on --- until now, when two federal agents walk into his office, demanding to know where Greg Downing is. According to the agents, Greg is still alive --- and has been placed at the scene of a double homicide, making him their main suspect. Shocked, Myron needs answers. Myron and Win, longtime friends and colleagues, set out to find the truth, but the more they discover about Greg, the more dangerous their world becomes.

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