Tellin' Stories: Scots Whay Hae!’s Ten Best Fiction Books Of 2025...
- Alistair Braidwood
- Dec 14, 2025
- 8 min read
There are plenty of ‘Books Of The Year’ lists around this time competing for your time and attention, but we like to think that Scots Whay Hae!’s selections are for the more discerning book lover, with something for everyone.
This year we once again offer you three separate lists. Our Crime and Non-fiction selections will be with you soon, but below are our pick of the Ten Best Fiction Books for 2025. Every year tells a different story and it’s always interesting to reflect upon that story as the year comes to a close.
Over the last 12 months there have been notable debuts, existential explorations, contemplation of the past to learn lessons for the present day, first loves and losses, meditations on people and the places which shape them, addresses as to the state-of-the-nation, the dangers of technology, isolation, flesh, fantasy, grief, guilt, empathy, ecstasy, and so much more.
These are the stories which we felt stood out against the stiffest competition in what was another outstanding year for Scottish literature. Taken as a whole they show the artistic diversity and cultural imagination at large in Scotland today and are proof that Scottish writing is in the finest fettle. With this is mind here are SWH!'s Ten Best Fiction Books of 2025.
Click on the highlighted book titles to learn more & grab yourself a copy
Few writers manage to capture human nature in the manner Karen Campbell does, with all it's complexities and contradictions, and This Bright Life is not just the latest example of this, but arguably the best. 12-year-old Gerard's life is a difficult one, looking after his sister as his mother is incapable. Pensioner Margaret lives a live of seclusion, and is settled with that, if not necessarily happy - trying to reconcile her self with her past. Solicitor Claire is coming to terms with an unexpected change in circumstances to find herself in a place she didn't expect to be. Three strangers whose lives are changed forever as their stories become intertwined in ways they neither want or expect, they move through initial suspicion and distrust towards a greater understanding, and a realisation that there is more that unites than divides us. At its heart this is a novel about compassion, empathy and kindness which speaks to all of us.
This Bright Life is published by Canongate
Allan Radcliffe's The Old Haunts was one of Scots Whay Hae!'s Best Books of 2023, so there was huge excitement about his latest Blurred Faces. It's a novel which examines the past and how it casts a long shadow, the 'blurred faces' representing how memory can be problematic, with recollections often unreliable. Davie and Jordan have shared history, although when they meet again it is as strangers. Only one recognises the other which brings memories flooding back, forcing him to relive a time and place which was traumatic, while the other is, initially, oblivious. The novel unfolds through alternating narratives as we get to see how they have both changed from their younger selves through other relationships and events, but there is no denying that the past is never too far away.
Blurred Faces is published by Fairlight Books
Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Benbecula is the latest in Polygon Books’ Darkland Tales series of novellas which have quickly become not only essential reading, but a place where you’ll find some of Scotland’s finest authors. They concern dreadful tales from Scottish history, and this time around Benbecula relates to the terrible true crimes committed by local labourer Angus MacPhee who, on the 9th of July 1857, brutally murdered his mother, father, and aunt on the titular Hebridean island. Events are recalled by Angus’s elder brother Malcolm who has chosen to remain on Benbecula, a place where the old ways may be dying, but alternatives are scarce. Haunted is the word which springs to mind, not just Malcolm but the island as a whole. A fascinating examination of place and people, Graeme Macrae Burnet goes beyond simplistic ideas of good and evil to explore the nature of madness, crime, and punishment, and there are comparisons between attitudes and understanding then and now.
Benbecula is published by Polygon Books
Alessandra Thom’s debut novel Summer Hours captures the madness & magic of those defining summers, the ones which never leave you, if you manage to survive. In an unusually hot Edinburgh every thought, emotion, and desire is heightened in a manner which encourages extremes, and which could be considered a form of madness. At the centre of this summer is Roisin, who is becoming increasingly obsessed with enigmatic best friend Eve. Eve appears to be her pass to a group of more interesting and arresting individuals than she would otherwise associate with, people who hold the promise of a life beyond the mundanity of a work/sleep/repeat cycle. A novel which packs a real punch, Summer Hours is such an eloquent and evocative read that you can feel the heat coming off the page, and taste the warm wine.
Summer Hours is published by Polygon Books
This is storytelling with purpose, if told with the writer’s wry and dry wit. In fact comedy, and laughter, are important in the most fundamental way. It is also a novel which has humanity at its heart, and which ultimately offers hope. Stories unfold across time through the memories of single mother Anna McCormick, and through the letters of her betrayer – whom she knows as ‘Buster’. The discovery of the latter makes Anna question herself and everything she believes she knows. Despite the series of events which threaten to define her, she finds she is part of a loving family, and a community. Previously defining herself as a ‘Fortress of Solitude’ she is surprised to realise she is no longer alone, and is determined to protect what she now has. Although it explores trauma on an individual and national level, Alive In The Merciful Country is ultimately a novel of strength and kindness, and is a reminder that A.L. Kennedy is a serious writer in terms of both style and substance.
Alive in the Merciful Country is published by Saraband Books
There are few writers who are consistently ahead of the cultural curve in the manner of Ewan Morrison. Having written in the past about (among other things) sex, cults, shopping malls, and survivalists, all with the fierce intelligence for which he is renowned, his latest novel, For Emma, looks at the potential effects of AI, and what a future relationship between man and machine might mean. The novel is split into two distinct sections, with a few essential appendices. An editor is sent a suspicious email, which links to a folder of suspect recordings, each of which begins with an address to ‘Emma’. The transcripts of these recordings make up the majority of For Emma and they set out the thoughts and deeds of a man determined to avenge the death of his daughter, who he believes has been killed as part of an experiment to merge technology and human biology. His evidence comes from Emma herself, but not in the way you might expect Prophetic and profound in equal measures - think Black Mirror meets Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, but with a human heart all of its own - For Emma confirms Ewan Morrison as one of the most interesting, thought-provoking, engaged, and frankly disconcerting, writers around.
For Emma is published with Leamington Books
Muckle Flugga is Michael Pedersen’s eagerly awaited debut novel, and it is a thing of magic and enchantment, with a deep humanity. Set mostly on the remote island of Muckle Flugga, it centres on the lives of three individuals. The Father is the lighthouse keeper who is paralysed with grief since the death of The Mother, the repetition of work and the isolation allowing him to exist in crisis. His son Ouse is both a comfort and an agonizing reminder of their shared loss. A gentle, artistic, soul, Ouse proves to be fragile yet fierce, and not the naif people believe him to be. The charismatic Firth is the cuckoo in the nest. A troubled soul, he comes to the island with one thing on his mind, but soon imagines an arresting alternative future. Through their unfolding relationships, with each other and with the natural and supernatural, mortality and morality are explored.
Muckle Flugga is published by Faber
The are modern gothic novels, and then there's Carrion Crow. Taking the trope of the 'madwoman in the attic' and bringing in the most fantastic and near unbearable body horror, Heather Parry asks us to reflect upon the relationship between mind and body. Marguerite Périgord's behaviour and relationships are of concern to her mother Cécile leading to her locking her daughter in the attic with a copy of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, a sewing machine, and a crow for company. Marguerite manages to put all three to good use as distractions from her terrible predicament. Instead of creating the civilised noblewoman her mother desires, she becomes Other. Heather Parry seems incapable of writing a boring or bad sentence (see her previous publications if you need further proof), but Carrion Crow is her best book to date. A literary macabre masterpiece.
Carrion Crow is published by Doubleday
Short stories first brought Kirsty Logan to the attention of many readers – the 2014 collection The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales followed closely by A Portable Shelter in 2015. A new collection No & Other Love Stories is a reminder not only that this a master storyteller, but just what a great short story collection can offer. The overarching theme this time around may be love, but Logan eschews traditional ideas of romance to look at obsession, possession, the physical, psychological, and the supernatural. The condition of the heart is explored but so is the rest of the body, and soul. These stories look at love using fantasy and horror tropes to reinforce reality in that they are intense, powerful, voracious, violent, sexual, and sensual, often places where extremes meet. If you are not yet familiar with the work of Kirsty Logan then this is a perfect place to rectify that. Short stories are still an under-appreciated literary form. However, in recent years there have been numerous memorable publications, and No & Other Love Stories is not just the latest, but one of the finest.
No & Other Love Stories is published with Harvill Secker
Among the most eagerly awaited debuts in years, Chris McQueer's Hermit captured the zeitgeist as few others managed with this brutally honest, intense, and brave novel which looks at the world of incel culture and why it can be seductive to young men in particular. Teenager Jamie spends his time online looking to make some connection with others, something he cannot seem to manage in 'real life' (even within his own family), and he finds himself drawn into a world which quickly becomes increasingly dark and dangerous. Few writers manage to create memorable and complex characters as McQueer does, and while the themes are harrowing, it is the individuals and their stories which makes this such an empathetic read. Chris McQueer has been known previously for the superb short story collections Hings and HWFG, but Hermit sees his writing taken to another level. It's not only one of the best novels of 2025, but one of the most important.
Hermit is published by Wildfire
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