The Desmond Elliott Prize shortlist

If you need any other proof that new Irish fiction is going through a particularly exciting period, look at the Desmond Elliot Prize shortlist. Gavin McCrea and Lisa McInerney are two of the most exciting debut authors I’ve read in recent years. Since I first read it a year ago, I’ve brought up Mrs Engels many times on this blog and on social media. You know what I’ve said about it so here is what the prize’s Chair of judges Iain Pears says about McCrea’s novel:

“McCrea has cleverly included just enough historical detail to set a very evocative scene, then lets his cast tell the story. The writing always surprises, his characters are compelling without having to be likeable and, as all of we judges noted, Mrs Engels is perhaps the most feminist novel we read for the Prize.”

That’s an interesting final thought considering McCrea was one of only three men out of the ten authors on the Desmond Elliot Prize longlist!

Lisa McInerney's novel is a powerfully-written and sweeping tale of modern day Cork that includes people who aren’t often portrayed in fiction. It’s also recently been shortlisted for this year's Baileys Prize for Fiction.

Pears said: “It is no surprise that not one but two major literary prizes have noticed McInerney’s talent. She gives us strong, complex working-class characters with real emotional hinterlands, and plays with the reader’s emotions in an extraordinarily sophisticated way.”

Also included in this shortlist of three is Julia Rochester’s striking novel about family secrets. It’s a novel that also made the Baileys Prize for Fiction longlist.

Pears said: “Rochester’s writing is quite wonderful – she is particularly strong on her sense of place. She brings the landscape to life just as she does her characters. We all felt we were with them at key points in the book.”

Click on the titles below for my full reviews about each of these novels.

Mrs Engels by Gavin McCrea
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester

The winner will be revealed at a ceremony at Fortnum & Mason on 22 June, where he or she will be presented with a cheque for £10,000.

The Desmond Elliott Prize longlist

There’s a special pleasure in discovering a fresh and exciting new voice with an author’s first book, so I always particularly enjoy following the Desmond Elliott Prize which honours debut novels. The winner receives £10,000 – which to a first time novelist can give a huge boost to helping them through writing that notoriously difficult second novel. Last year’s winner was Claire Fuller whose novel Our Endless Numbered Days is a thrilling, emotional and beautifully written account of a girl’s abduction and long-term captivity with her father.

This year’s longlist has just been announced and it’s a particularly fantastic group of novels! I’ve read seven out of the ten books. It includes some of my favourites from last year such as Gavin McCrea’s brilliant Mrs Engels. Two on the list are also on this year’s Baileys Prize longlist. This is fitting because it’s a particularly strong list for female authors! Click on the titles below to read my full reviews of these books.

Mrs Engels by Gavin McCrea
The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis
Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon
The Weightless World by Anthony Trevelyan
Disclaimer by Renée Knight
The Honours by Tim Clare
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester
Things We Have in Common by Tasha Kavanagh

It's particularly fun following The Desmond Elliott Prize on twitter because their popular #DiscoveraDebut hashtag generates great suggestions of new authors from a wide variety of people.

Have you read any of them? What are some of your favourite debut books?