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A romantic-mystery debut novel, The Artist by Lucy Steeds, set against the sun-drenched backdrop of southern France, has been crowned the 2025 Waterstones Book of the Year.
The novel, which unfolds over a Provencal summer in 1920, introduces readers to an enigmatic painter, his niece, and a British journalist keen to write about him, as tensions gradually escalate between the trio.
London-based author Lucy Steeds, who also secured the 2025 Waterstones’ Debut Fiction Prize, began crafting the novel during her time living in France. Her win saw her triumph over a strong shortlist that included Sir David Attenborough and Colin Butfield’s Ocean, and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise On The Reaping.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones’ head of books, praised the winning title, stating: “The Artist is a gorgeously escapist novel which seamlessly transports the reader to the sticky heat of sun-soaked 1920s’ southern France, weaving mystery with romance while delving into the complex nature of artistry.
Atmospheric, elegant and sensory, it is a novel to be fully swept away by. Lucy Steeds is a writer of staggering, rare talent and it has been a joy to see this bookseller favourite become a word-of-mouth sensation.” Steeds now joins a prestigious list of past winners, including Asako Yuzuki, who won in 2024 with Butter, and Katherine Rundell, the 2023 recipient for Impossible Creatures.
The 2025 Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year was awarded to Bafta-winning animation director Mikey Please for his debut picture book, The Cafe At The Edge Of The Woods. This playful story, told in immersive rhymes, follows Rene and her waiter Glumfoot as their dream of running a cafe comes true, only for local mythical customers to begin ordering an array of disgusting meals.
Carvalho commented on the children’s winner: “The Cafe At The Edge Of The Woods bursts with charm and delight, juggling the delicious and the disgusting through addictive rhymes and exquisite illustration. Sweetly slapstick and quirkily surreal, it crams silliness and splendour into every tiniest detail.
Rene and Glumfoot are an iconic new double act who children and adults alike will fall for, this is a true treat of a book which champions the sheer fun to be found in children’s storytelling.”
Meanwhile, Chef Tim Siadatan, co-owner of London restaurants Trullo and Padella, and an alumnus of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen programme, received the Waterstones Gift of the Year 2025 for his pasta book, Padella.
“Our Gift of the Year, Padella, will be a welcome addition to any kitchen bookshelf, inspiring yet accessible, destined to be thick with oil-splatter like all the most beloved cookbooks,” Carvalho noted. “Padella stands out as one of the most stunningly produced books of the year, setting the bar high for designers for the coming years.”
The Waterstones Book of the Year is a highly coveted accolade, with previous winners including literary giants such as Philip Pullman, Maggie O’Farrell, Charlie Mackesy, and Sir Paul McCartney.
All winning titles will receive comprehensive backing from Waterstones’ shops and booksellers across the UK, alongside extensive online promotion and support through its loyalty card programme, Waterstones Plus, which reaches over a million readers.
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