The Walter Scott Prize 2014: the shortlist

    Historical fiction (see yesterday's post) is in the news again today with the announcement of the shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize, the judges describing their deliberations as "the toughest choice, from the strongest longlist, in the Prize’s five year history":

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Harvest by Jim Crace
Fair Helen by Andrew Greig
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
The Promise by Ann Weisgarber

    I am particularly pleased to see Ann Weisgarber's book there for - as I said here - there is so much to enjoy and admire in it. I made reference yesterday to the craft of writing historical fiction, and Ann's novel is a textbook example, economical, exact, beautifully judged in terms of the telling of the story and the recreation of the real events which form its setting. If you haven't already read it, I'd urge you to seek it out.

Comments

[Barbara]

I don't much like historical fiction these days (the penalties of a history degree) but I must put in a word for An Officer and a Spy, which although it is fact, reads like a thriller. I reviewed it here.

[Cornflower]

Many thanks for the link, Barbara. Several people in this house would enjoy that book, so I've added it to my wish list (and I see the paperback will be out soon).