Another season of The Women’s Prize has come to a close! As always, it’s been such a pleasure reading many of the titles from both the fiction and non-fiction lists. Some of the books I’ve read have been excellent including “Nesting” by Roisin O’Donnell, “The Dream Hotel” by Laila Lalami, “Ootlin” by Jenni Fagan and “Agent Zo” by Clare Mulley. Of course, I was already a fan of “The Safekeep” by Yael van der Wouden which won the fiction prize. It’s nice to see this clever debut taking a prize after not winning The Booker last year. The only title I’ve not read from both shortlists is “The Story of a Heart” by Rachel Clarke which won the non-fiction prize but I’m looking forward to getting to it - though I’ve heard it’s a very emotional read. While I’ve enjoyed reading many more books nominated for this year’s awards I’d say that my overall impression of this year’s lists is that it’s been a good but not a great year. There are so many more books which I felt could have been nominated or shortlisted. Nevertheless, it’s been such fun discussing so many books in contention for the awards with other readers.
Luckily the sun came out for the awards ceremony as The Women’s Prize celebrated its 30th anniversary in a small park in central London. Bernardine Evaristo was awarded a special prize - The Outstanding Contribution Award. I felt so lucky to attend and I made a vlog about my experience on the evening. I got to chat with so many authors, journalists and publishers about books. A real highlight was meeting Elizabeth Strout and her lovely husband James again. It’s always a novelty encounters fellow people from Maine here in the UK. Strout’s book and her most recent “Tell Me Everything” are wonderful stories but they also have personal resonance since I grew up in this landscape and also it’s become a tradition where I’ve read her most recent books aloud to my husband. The speeches by Evaristo, Rachel Clarke and Yael van der Wouden were all excellent and moving. So it’s been such a pleasure following this year’s prizes and joining in the celebration!
