The Booker Prize 2025 Longlist

We have recently been gifted with The Booker Prize Longlist for 2025, and I was so deeply thrilled to see a Fitzcarraldo Editions selected also. Every Fitzcarraldo I’ve read to date I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and so this listing encouraged me to pick up One Boat by Jonathan Buckley. As you can probably guess, the longest novels were flying off the shelves. Waterstones sold out as it was sitting in my basket, as I was contemplating whether to get Endling to my basket also. In the end I went directly to the publisher, however, dispatch and delivery wouldn’t come fast enough for me to respond timely, so I also downloaded the ebook on my Kobo so I could read it immediately. I’m so glad I didn’t wait, Reading One Boat is exactly like watching a single boat on the still water. It’s quiet, reflective and carries you gently through the narrative. 

The Gentle Narrative and Harmonious Prose

One Boat is a beautiful meditative piece where  the subject matter and the written style are succinctly dancing with each other. Theresa, our protagonist, is returning to a Greek coastal town in the wake of the death of her father. Nine years prior she had sought out a place to reflect and meditate on the grief of losing her mother, returning having grown emotionally. Theresa is seeking the same outcome by attempting to retrace her steps, including seeking out the people she previously met to only find that people change. 

Buckley leans heavily on memory and uses a beautiful device of conversing with the reader whilst reflecting in a notebook which is elegantly interwoven into the text, distinguished through italics. This reflection is also layered throughout Theresa’s meditative journey, with a purposeful slow place, which does not impact the reading process. In fact, it takes you on a mindful journey, perfect for escaping the fast reality around us. It is unhurried, precise and very deliberate, with no element fighting another, everything working together harmoniously. 

Memories, Grief and Healing

“Death is imminent but is nothing; we are negligible; it is senseless to mourn the loss of years that do not exist.”

One Boat is an exploration of healing in the wake of grief. The initial reflection is in the wake of the loss of a parent, but the narrative explores other kinds of grief including relationships, change, work. It is an exploration, for Theresa, of her self, her personality, her decisions. The main narrative delves into her memories of her previous visit to the Greek seaside town – her recollections of the people she met, the relationships she built and the insights she had. This is then mirrored in the present day, but the people she met have changed which initiates its own self-reflection.

In returning to the seaside town, Theresa was hoping to heal and grow in the same way, but she realises that whilst she remains the same as she was nine years ago, the different characters she met have all moved on and had events occur that has changed them from the people she knew to people who, in some cases, are a shadow of the person she previously met, providing Theresa a new reflective direction. She finds comfort in the simplicity of a poem written by one of the characters she meets, though others don’t understand it, she could see the simplistic beauty, which I personally found quite profound. 

         The bay
                 lid of black cloud
                 in one place cracked
below, in light
one boat
                                Glory

Turning Away from Reflection

One Boat reached a solid four-star rating for me (five-stars are rare, so should not be used as a reflection. 3.5-star upwards and you can take that as a recommendation. One Boat fell short of a 4.5-star due to the final chapter which moved away from the reflective and harmonious narrative, a broken stillness which didn’t work for me. Not that I thought it bad, simply a disruption from the calmness that had carried the story. 

Ultimately, One Boat is a beautiful, mindful and reflective piece that is a great one-sit read. I, personally, could relate to Theresa and therefore, was completely invested in her experiences. Perfect for the reflective reader. 

Have you read One Boat? What did you think of the ending? Which Booker read are you most looking forward to? 

Some links in this post are affiliate links. I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.