The Women’s Prize For Fiction has announced the 2019 shortlist, with six books to add to your summer reading list.
The top six were selected from the long list of 16 titles, chosen by five judges including Professor Kate Williams, Arifa Akbar, Dolly Alderton, Leyla Hussein and Sarah Wood.
The shortlist featured a previous winner of the Orange Prize for fiction, Madeline Miller for The Song of Achilles, a winner of the Orange Award for New Writers Diana Evans, for 26a, and a debut author, Oyinkan Braithwaite for her book, My Sister, the Serial Killer.
Chair of the Judges, Professor Kate Williams, described the shortlist as “exciting, vibrant and adventurous”. “We fell totally in love with these books and the amazing worlds they created. These books are fiction at its best - brilliant, courageous and utterly captivating”, she said in a press release.
The winner of the coveted Women’s Prize For Fiction will be announced on 5 June 2019 at an awards ceremony in London, and will walk away with more than a title and a trophy. The winner will also receive a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze figurine known as a ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven.
Below is the full shortlist, with not a single title costing more than £15. Bargain.
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, Amazon, £12.36
A reimagining of The Iliad, Barker tells the untold story of women at the centre of the Trojan War. Briseis, the former queen awarded to Achilles, the greatest Greek fighter, after he murdered her husband and brother, finds herself a pawn between men. The book explores a culture rampant with misogyny, sexism and oppression.
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Amazon, £8.45
This book explores the complex nature of sibling relationships through sisters Ayoola and Korede, with a story set in Lagos, Nigeria. Expect a mix of crime and love, interwoven with testing family dynamics. It begs the question, how far will you go for your family?
Milkman by Anna Burns, Amazon, £5.50
Set during the troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, Belfast-native Burns tells the story of an 18-year-old girl who has attracted the unwanted attention of the milkman. Tackling the oppressiveness of religion, the patriarchy and tribalism, the book confronts many issues still facing women today.
Ordinary People by Diana Evans, Amazon, £11.32
Evans’ third novel focuses on the everyday dramas, opening on the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration. Ordinary People delves into the domesticity of black and mixed-race middle class lives and parenthood, examining modern life through a poignant lens, including the stresses of childcare, the mundanity of housework and sex lives that have lost their spark.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, Amazon, £6.29
Young couple, Celestial and Roy, have a seemingly picture perfect life as newlyweds until their lives are turned upside down when Roy is wrongly convicted for a crime. This is a love story hit by hardships and the aftermath of events following Roy’s sentencing and eventual release.
Circe by Madeline Miller, Amazon, £10.81
Circe is the daughter of Helios, god of the sun, who lives a life of rejection as she struggles to navigate her way in a world that she doesn’t belong in. Her secret dark power of witchcraft leaves her exiled to a lonely life, until mortal Odysseus comes along in a story that explores family rivalry, love, loss and budding relationships.
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