The winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Fiction will be announced later today at the Borders Book Festival and, excitingly, I will be there!
I’ve read all the books on the shortlist and here are some brief thoughts on each of them. They are shown in the order in which I read them.
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (Canongate) – An enthralling, skilfully crafted combination of love story and adventure story set in 19th century Montana. I was completely captivated by Tom and Polly’s story which, although you suspect is doomed from the start, you can’t help hoping will turn out differently. ‘…And wasn’t it a remarkable turn of events that showed love and death they co-exist in our violent and sentimental world. They might even depend one on the other.’
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller (Sceptre) – The story of two couples – Eric and Irene, and Bill and Rita – exploring their hopes and fears, and revealing the fractures in their relationships that threaten to split wide open. Set in a remote part of the West Country during the extreme winter of 1962, there’s a real feeling of not just physical isolation but emotional as well.
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Viking) – Set in the rural Dutch province of Overijssel fifteen years since the Second World War the book explores, through the intense and intimate relationship between two women, how secrets have a way of finding their way to the surface.
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree) – A wonderfully imaginative and comic story (albeit with darker undertones) set in Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War. Told with an Irish lilt, it features best friends, Lampo and Gelon, who embark on an ambitious project to stage a play by Euripides in a quarry using Athenian prisoners as their cast.
The Book of Days by Francesca Kay (Swift Press) – The book is set in a small village at the end of Henry VIII’s reign where daily life is governed by the rhythm of the changing seasons and the rituals of religious devotion. That is until events in the outside world intrude. Beautifully written with a hypnotic quality because of its gentle pace.
The Mare by Angharad Hampshire (Northodox Press) – The incredibly powerful and unflinching story, told in fictional form, of Hermine Braunsteiner who worked as a concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück and was the first person to be extradited from the Unites States for Nazi war crimes.
Predicting a winner is difficult. Both The Safekeep and Glorious Exploits have received a lot of attention, especially as they’re debut novels. If you’d asked me a couple of days ago to pick a winner, I’d have said The Heart in Winter. Now it’s The Mare.
Do you have a winner from the shortlist?
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