Here are the 16 novels longlisted for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction! It's an exciting and (mostly) surprising group of books. A new video is up on my YouTube channel discussing all these titles with some fun info about the list as a whole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6MJ_Xb4TQ

There are 9 debuts including some which have featured on other prize lists and some I've not come across before. Amongst these is “Trespasses” by Louise Kennedy which I have read and it was also shortlisted for the Waterstone's Debut Book Award. It's such a moving and unique account of a Catholic teacher who has an affair with a married man amidst The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

I'm also thrilled to see “Glory”, “The Marriage Portrait” and “Demon Copperhead” which are all such accomplished immersive reads. In my predictions video with Anna I declared that Barbara Kingsolver will win this year's prize and I'm sticking with that speculation. To be fair, this is hardly an imaginative guess given that Kingsolver has won the award before, this novel is already very popular and she's one of the most respected American authors working today. But I really loved this story and I'm so glad that (even more) people will be reading it now. And... I may change my mind about what book I want to win after reading more of this year's nominations.

I've currently read only 4 of the novels from the list and I'll probably next read “Cursed Bread”, “I'm a Fan” or “Wandering Souls”. But there is so much enticing fiction here which all appears to be high quality (no fluff) so we're spoiled for choice!

What will you read first? What do you think of the list as a whole? Do you have an early prediction about what will win? Any books you're gutted not to see on the list? I'm disappointed “Nightcrawling”, “Fight Night” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” weren't listed... but hey ho that's how it goes with book prize lists. Nevertheless, this is a great looking group!