Susan Hill once wrote that ‘a prize is a prize and when it is a lucrative and highly publicised prize, it matters a lot in the book world. Not many affect sales directly and hugely but one which now does is the Orange Prize for women writers.’
This year’s Orange Prize longlist has been released. There are some familiar faces on it. The Booker nominated Room, by Emma Donoghue, is on the list. Natalie Fast reviewed this strange and discombobulating story for the book blog in the autumn and the Bookseller reckons it stands a shot at glory. Previous Orange Prize winner, and regular contributor to the Spectator, Joanna Kavenna has been nominated for The Birth of Love, a many stranded but clear narrative through different times and places. You can read Charlotte Moore’s review for the Spectator here.
Tessa Hadley for The London Train – a review of which will be appearing on the book blog in the near future. Hadley is a subtle controversialist (and I mean that as compliment), whose previous novel, The Master Bedroom, followed middle aged Katie, who tries to satisfy for her love/lust for an old friend by having an absolutely ecstatic affair with his teenage son. Along with Donoghue, Hadley is tipped by some to be ‘due for a win’ and don’t discount A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan if you’re a gamber.
But, of course, there is always the unexpected. The phenomenally popular The Tiger’s Wife, by Téa Obreht, has made the cut. This would not be wholly surprising but for the fact that Obreht is a debut novelist. She is one of several to have made the list, which intrigues me because it is another example of a mounting effort to promote first time novelists. World Book Night devoted an extended programme to new fiction writers and Waterstone’s has launched a campaign to push 11 new novels on an unsuspecting public. There used to be a clichéd convention that first novels were politely ignored by all but the most talkative of the chattering classes; and there is no apparent reason for this sudden change beyond a fashionable whim. However, The Tiger’s Wife is reputably blowing a gale into the demure atmosphere of reading clubs and this may carry it onto the shortlist, perhaps even to the prize itself. The complete longlist follows:
Lyrics Alley Leila Aboulela (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Jamrach’s Menagerie Carol Birch (Canongate)
Room Emma Donoghue (Picador)
The Pleasure Seekers Tishani Doshi (Bloomsbury)
Whatever You Love Louise Doughty (Faber)
A Visit from the Goon Squad Jennifer Egan (Corsair)
The Memory of Love Aminatta Forna (Bloomsbury)
The London Train Tessa Hadley (Jonathan Cape)
Grace Williams Says it Loud Emma Henderson (Sceptre)
The Seas Samantha Hunt (Corsair)
The Birth of Love Joanna Kavenna (Faber)
Great House Nicole Krauss (Viking)
The Road to Wanting Wendy Law-Yone (Chatto)
The Tiger’s Wife Téa Obreht (Weidenfeld)
The Invisible Bridge Julie Orringer (Viking)
Repeat it Today with Tears Anne Peile (Serpent’s Tail)
Swamplandia! Karen Russell (Chatto)
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives Lola Shoneyin (Serpent’s Tail)
The Swimmer Roma Tearne (HarperPress)
Annabel Kathleen Winter (Jonathan Cape)
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