“The Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades.
Each year, the prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the UK and Ireland. It is a prize that transforms the winner’s career.
The winner receives £50,000 as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the six shortlisted authors. Both the winner and the shortlisted authors are guaranteed a global readership and can expect a dramatic increase in book sales.”
Booker Prize 2023 Winner
Being American, I wasn’t familiar with the Booker Prize. London friends recommended the 2023 winner, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. Set in a not too far off dystopian Ireland, I haven’t been that captivated, enthralled, transfixed, transported, haunted by a book in a long time.
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James – One of Six on the Shortlist
I coincidentally had read one of the 2024 shortlisted books: James by Percival Everett , an imaginative retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim the slave.
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The Safekeep
I decided to explore of the rest of the six shortlisted books. Next up: The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden , a sexy Dutch period piece very much about the power of “home”. As a “nomad”, out of the family home of 20 years, this resonated with me. I soon realized that all of these books covered themes of home and the power of place.
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While in Manchester, of course I had to wander into a Waterstones. There I saw all of the six shortlisted Booker Prize books. Too much to resist! I read the blurbs on each, and purchased two more.
Orbital
Orbital by Samantha Harvey – I’m just starting this very short book following astronauts and cosmonauts as they travel around and around the earth while in space. “Home” becomes a grander notion, as in Mother Earth.
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Held
Held byAnne Michaels – I purchased this one, another book set in Europe war time, 1917. I look forward to reading.
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Two more on the shortlist
I haven’t yet bought the remaining two contenders:
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
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Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
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Following my current obsession with books, reading and now the Booker Prize, I bought tickets for November 11, 2024 in London to attend readings by all six of the shortlisted authors. Sounds like a dream come true! I will update this post after that event.
Meanwhile, I invite you to join me in reading, Booker Prize style!
Background on The Booker Prize:
The emotional pull of home:
SIX AUTHORS AT THE BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLIST EVENT
UPDATE – I loved hearing the six authors of the shortlisted books above. They were interviewed and gave a short reading. Then I was able to meet some of the authors and get my books signed. Seeing writers treated like rock stars was awesome!
The following day, Samantha Harvey’s “Orbital” was named the Booker Prize 2024 winner.
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