Best Fiction of 2021

Can a year’s worth of fiction really be distilled into a short list of the very best work? If you like a book, it’s good; there’s no value in snobbery. But there are always books that shift to the top of the pile, through exemplary prose, or intriguing situations, unusual characters, and narrators who see right through into the heart of you. This is the short list of the books that amazed us in 2021, and we think they’ll amaze you too.