We've come to the end of another season of The Women's Prize for Fiction and what a fantastic ride it's been! I think the 2023 shortlist has some of the best overall quality we've seen in recent years. Such a great balance between two highly accomplished previous winners, really exciting debut novels and one very contentious book. But, of course, there could only be one champion. It was a thrill to be invited to the ceremony to see the winner being announced and I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to meet and chat with Barbara Kingsolver. She was so gracious and nice! We discussed how the opioid epidemic has also hit hard in my home state of Maine as well as the plot connections between her novel and Dickens' classic. Interestingly, she noted the character of Matt Peggot (known as “Maggot”) doesn't have an equivalent in “David Copperfield” because Dickens didn't know any boys like Maggot but she felt he should have a presence in her story. Well, the spirit of Dickens must have been cheering her on from the sidelines because Kingsolver was declared the winner and it was so exciting to be standing right in front of the stage to see it happen. She delivered such a heartfelt speech. Kingsolver is the first author to have won the Women's Prize twice! You can watch my vlog about going to the ceremony and party here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA1A0bBXtYs
This is another win for “Demon Copperhead” which was already declared the co-recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (alongside Hernan Diaz's “Trust”) and it's also been shortlisted for this year's Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. I fully understand the sentiment (rumoured to be shared by Kingsolver herself) that it would have been more beneficial for the prize to have gone to one of the debut authors on the list as their books and careers would be more enhanced by the attention. Kingsolver’s novel has already sold very well because the author is so well established and it was an Oprah’s book club choice. Certainly “Black Butterflies”, “Fire Rush” and “Trespasses” all contain such unique voices and present such vivid senses of place. I loved reading them and I hope more people will continue to read them. But the criteria for this book prize isn't to award the most promising new writer of the year. It's for the best novel written by a woman published in the past year. In my opinion, “Demon Copperhead” is the most skilful and powerful book on the shortlist so I'm absolutely delighted it's taken the prize!
Of course, I also can't help taking a little smug satisfaction in the fact that I've been advocating for this novel to win the Women's Prize even before the longlist was announced – as you can see in my predictions video with Anna. I made a video earlier this year explaining why I think “Demon Copperhead” should win every prize it's eligible for. And it looks like the novel is doing just that as it's sweeping all the book awards. It may take the surprise out of any book contest this year, but it's also a very worthy winner. I've heard from some readers who haven't been as moved by this novel as I was, but I know it's also touched many readers' hearts and minds. I'm grateful we have a great diversity of literature and points of view. But excellence is excellence. “Demon Copperhead” isn't just a modern retelling of a classic; it is a modern classic.
