Exciting news for fiction fans — the judges have announced this year’s Booker Prize longlist!
There are some great reads in here (and some we’re very much looking forward to reading).
Hilary Mantel is in the running to win her third Prize, thanks to “The Mirror And The Light”, which our Lucy reviewed here. Her previous wins, in 2009 and 2012, were for the two previous instalments of the Cromwell trilogy (“Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up The Bodies”).
While critical acclaim for Hilary’s latest work perhaps isn’t a surprise, it’s certainly noteworthy that the longlist features a staggering eight debut authors. It seems the judges are just as committed to supporting new talent as we are!
The full list is:
- Diane Cook — “The New Wilderness“
- Tsitsi Dangarembga — “This Mournable Body“
- Avni Doshi — “Burnt Sugar“
- Gabriel Krauze — “Who They Was“
- Hilary Mantel — “The Mirror & The Light“
- Colum McCann — “Apeirogon“
- Maaza Mengiste — “The Shadow King“
- Kiley Reid — “Such A Fun Age“
- Brandon Taylor — “Real Life“
- Anne Tyler — “Redhead By The Side Of The Road“
- Douglas Stuart — “Shuggie Bain“
- Sophie Ward — “Love And Other Thought Experiments“
- C Pam Zhang — “How Much Of These Hills Is Gold“
Last year’s prize was, somewhat controversially, jointly awarded to Margaret Atwood (for “The Testaments”) and Bernardine Evaristo (for “Girl, Woman, Other”).
Read our Abbie’s review of “Girl, Woman, Other”.
For more great Fiction content from “The People’s Friend”, click here.
For more on the Booker Prize, click here.