Posthumous memoir by Jeffrey Epstein exposer shortlisted for award | Books | Entertainment | EUROtoday

A devastating memoir by Jeffrey Epstein’s most distinguished accuser is shortlisted for Book of the Year alongside two different explosive titles that shocked readers and helped change public perceptions on the UK’s most prestigious publishing awards. Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, by Virginia Roberts Giuffre is among the many nominations revealed immediately for the British Book Awards 2026.

Its US creator took her personal life aged 41 in April final 12 months. Her memoir, detailing how she was intercourse trafficked by the billionaire paedophile, turned a bestseller after it was printed posthumously in October and praised for its braveness. Fittingly, additionally shortlisted within the non-fiction narrative class on the Nibbies is British historian and biographer Andrew Lownie for Entitled:The Rise and Fall of the House Of York, his damning biography of the previous prince which helped reveal the depths of his friendship with Epstein.

Sarah Wynn-Williams’s whistleblowing account of her time at Facebook, Careless People, joins the 2 alongside three different titles – together with Ozzy Osbourne’s last memoir, Last Rites. It topped bestseller charts, regardless of Wynn-Williams being legally restricted from discussing the e book.

Lownie instructed the Express: “I’m honoured that Entitled has been short-listed alongside such important authors. It confirms that books still have an influential role in public life.”

Described because the ‘Baftas’ of the British publishing trade, the British Book Awards, supported by the Daily Express, have been the main awards for the e book commerce since 1990. Other authors shortlisted for awards this 12 months embrace Slow Horses creator Mick Herron for creator of the 12 months, alongside artist and illustrator Charlie Mackey and Gavin & Stacey star turned novelist Ruth Jones. Philip Pullman is nominated within the fiction and audiobook classes. Kathy Burke and younger grownup creator AF Steadman are additionally each nominated twice, whereas comic Bob Mortimer beneficial properties one nomination for the audiobook of his hit novel, The Long Shoe.

The bestselling creator of home thriller The Housemaid, which was tailored into considered one of final 12 months’s hit movies starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, joins 5 different authors vying for the Crime and Thrillers gong, supported by the Daily Express. US author Frieda McFadden is up towards Richard Osman, Dan Brown and Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall for the British Book Awards’. The different two writers making up the shortlist are Sally Smith and Liz Moore.

Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and chair of the judges: “Reflecting readers’ choices, publishing expertise, bookselling passion and creative excellence, these shortlists demonstrate the power of books to change lives, shape history and inform the future. It was a particularly strong year for debut fiction, narrative non-fiction, graphic novels and fantasy. And, following the loss of beloved authors Jilly Cooper, Sophie Kinsella and Joanna Trollope, I am especially delighted by the range and vitality of the titles on our first-ever Romantic Fiction shortlist.”

Other shortlisted titles that give voice to otherwise surpressed narratives, include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestselling Dream Count nominated for fiction book of the year, Marcia Hutchinson’s portrait of a girl growing up in the 1960s Bradford Windrush generation The Mercy Step, nominated for book of the year – discover, and Roisín O’Donnell’s Nesting, shortlisted in debut fiction book of the year.

Alice O’Keeffe, head of books for The Bookseller and overall chair of the Books of the Year, said: “From fresh new voices to big brand authors, this year’s shortlists celebrate the best books published in 2025. For the very first time, our judges are looking forward to discussing three new categories: Romantic Fiction, Graphic Novels and Science Fiction & Fantasy. In an exceptional year for Non-Fiction Narrative submissions, half the shortlist is made up of books that broke out of the books pages to lead the news agenda, a reminder that these books really matter.”

Winners will likely be introduced on May 11.