literary prizes – Page 21 – What Cathy Read Next…

It’s what lovers of historical fiction have been waiting for – the publication yesterday of the longlist for the 2019 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The organisers and judges have treated us again this year because there are twelve titles on a longlist of great variety, including a couple of books that are completely new to me (which is always a surprise to someone who prides herself as being up on the latest historical fiction).

Congratulations to all the authors and publishers of the longlisted books.

Little by Edward Carey (Gallic Books) – in my TBR pile

A Long Way From Home by Peter Carey (Faber)

After The Party by Cressida Connolly (Viking) – Read and reviewed

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (Serpent’s Tail)

The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape) – in my TBR pile

Dark Water by Elizabeth Lowry (riverrun)

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller (Sceptre) – in my TBR pile

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje (Jonathan Cape) – in my TBR pile

The Wanderers by Tim Pears (Bloomsbury)

The Long Take by Robin Robertson (Picador)

All The Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy (Maclehose Press)

Tombland by C J Sansom (Mantle) – in my TBR pile

Walter Scott Prize Longlist 2019

I’m not going to promise to read the entire longlist before the short list is announced in April but I’ll have a go. Visit The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction page on my blog for links to my reviews or the book description on Goodreads. I’ll be updating the links as I read and review them.

I recently shared my thoughts on contenders for the longlist and I suppose I should congratulate myself that I got any right. In fact, there were two I tipped that appear on the longlist – Warlight by Michael Ondaatje and Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller – although I haven’t read either of them yet. Four more of my predictions made it on to the Academy Recommends list, a list of twenty recommended books supplementary to the longlist: Love is Blind by William Boyd and All Among The Barley by Melissa Harrison (which I’m currently reading) plus The Black Earth by Philip Kazan and The Angel’s Mark by S.W. Perry, both of which I loved.

Are there books you’re surprised to see on the list? Are there favourites you’re sad didn’t make it? Are you planning to read some or all of the longlisted books? Do you have any early predictions for the shortlist or even the eventual prize-winner?

The deadline for publishers to submit books published in 2018 for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2019 is fast approaching (31^st January). Like other historical fiction fans, I shall be eagerly awaiting the announcement of the longlist and the ‘Academy Recommends’ list in February/March. Last year, I managed to read eight of the thirteen longlisted novels and all but one of the shortlisted novels. You can find links to my reviews here. This year I aim to read, if possible, all the longlisted novels (assuming I haven’t already read them).

There were some fantastic historical fiction novels published in 2018 and listed below are some I’ve read that I’d love to see make the longlist (subject to them meeting all the eligibility criteria). In addition, there are some books in my TBR pile I haven’t got around to reading yet but which, judging from reviews, potentially deserve a place. Finally, there are a few others that I’m yet to acquire but which also look like possible contenders for inclusion.

Check back when the longlist is announced to see how my picks match the judges’ choices – if at all!