News
Susie Boyt shortlisted for prestigious PEN/Ackerley Prize
Susie Boyt has been shortlisted for the prestigious PEN/Ackerley Prize for Memoir 2008 for My Judy Garland Life.
The other authors shortlisted are Julian Barnes for Nothing To Be Frightened Of (Cape), Julia Blackburn for The Three Of Us (Cape); Ferdinand Mount for Cold Cream (Bloomsbury); and Sathnam Sanghera for If You Don't Know Me By Now (Penguin Viking). The winner will be announced at Foyle's on 13th July.
Past winners include Jenny Diski, Lorna Sage, Margaret Forster, Blake Morrison, Diana Athill, Dan Jacobson and Tim Lott.
You can also read Susie Boyt's review of Jim Bailey as Judy Garland at The Times Online and her piece on the experience of writing a biography at www.ft.com.
Book Details »
Home wins Orange Prize for Fiction 2009
We're absolutely delighted to report that Home by Marilynne Robinson has been awarded the Orange Prize for Fiction 2009.
Fi Glover, chair of judges, said of the book: 'This year's Orange Prize winner has a luminous quality to it that has drawn all of the judges to a unanimous decision. The profound nature of the writing stood out, as has the ability of writer to draw the reader into a world of hope expectation, misunderstanding, love and kindness.'
For more information about the award, to hear Marilynne reading from Home and to hear both Fi Glover's announcement of the winner and Marilynne's acceptance speech, visit www.orangeprize.co.uk.
Book Details »
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - out now
The brand new Sarah Waters novel, The Little Stranger was officially published this week and has already been very well-received indeed by the UK, US and Australian press:
'Sarah Waters combines spookiness and social observation in a gripping tale' Hilary Mantel, reviewing for The Guardian.
'A stunning ghost story that nurtures Turn of the Screw-style ambiguities ... Waters waits until the last possible minute to unveil her answers, and then brings the book's blurry phantasmagoria into startling focus' Time Out New York
'It may not resemble Waters's earlier work, but The Little Stranger is a corker. An exercise in moderation and flawless cadence, it is a story pulsing with malevolent energy; the atmosphere is wickedly, addictively tense. This is a writer at the height of her powers' The Australian
'Waters has managed to write a near-perfect gothic novel while at the same time confidently deploying the form into fresher territory. It's an astonishing performance, right down to the book's mournful and devastating final sentence' Salon.com.
There's plenty of bonus material for Sarah's fans to enjoy as well:
Read an interview with Sarah in the Wall Street Journal: online.wsj.com.
In the first of the Hay festival Haycasts, Sarah Waters discusses her latest novel, The Little Stranger with Claire Armistead about a fascination with ghost stories that has its roots in her own childhood, why she found herself drawn back again to the 1940s and what it is she loves about manipulating the genre form. Watch the video at www.guardian.co.uk.
'Ghosts, Gothic horror, lesbians, poltergeists, female hysteria... There are hidden depths to Sarah Waters.' The 'most remarkable storyteller since Daphne du Maurier' talks to Robert McCrum about 'effete boyfriends, postwar austerity and why she's kicked out the corsets in her latest novel', also at www.guardian.co.uk.
And you can read the first chapter of The Little Stranger over at www.sarahwaters.com.
Book Details »
Lisa Appignanesi at the Kingston Readers Festival
Lisa Appignanesi appeared at the Kingston Readers Festival on Wednesday 20 May, where she gave a talk on her book Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present which was we published in paperback in January 2009.
Her event took place in the John Lewis restaurant overlooking the Thames River, where she spoke to a hundred people, many of whom commented on the excellence of her talk. Visit the Little, Brown Blog to see a couple of photos from the event.
Mad, Bad and Sad won the Medical Journalists Association Award for the most outstanding book in the General Section and was also shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year Award 2009.
Book Details »
Groundbreaking Author and Feminist Marilyn French has died
We are sad to announce that Marilyn French died on 2nd May, aged 79. Her debut novel, the groundbreaking The Women's Room, propelled her to a leading role in the feminist movement, and was hailed as a life-changing book. The Women's Room sold more than 20 million copies and has been translated into 20 languages.
Kate Mosse pays tribute to Marilyn French in the Guardian - read the article at www.guardian.co.uk.
Book Details »
Marilynne Robinson's Home wins LA Times Book Prize
Fantastic news from the US: Pulitzer Prize winning author Marilynne Robinson, has been awarded the 2008 LA Times Book Prize for Fiction for her wonderful novel Home.
See www.latimes.com for details fo all this year's winners.
Click to read an extract from Home...
Click for more information on Home...
Book Details »
