For the last seven years I have shadow judged the Women’s Prize for Fiction. When the long list is announced, I excitedly mark off the books I’ve already read, turn off the television and embark on a mini adventure of being exposed to some authors that are new to me and some that are old friends. Whilst reading the sixteen longlisted books, I am often on the lookout for a common theme or thread that ties them together and explains why these sixteen were chosen. There were themes of overcoming childhood trauma; escaping oppression and cleverly outsmarting the powers that be. Most of all the books this year were about survival.
Inevitably, I pick my shortlisted six and winner, and almost always get it wrong. Loving a book and feeling like the author and character speak to you directly is such a magical alchemy of where you are as a reader and how the story speaks to you or exposes you to an experience or point of view that you never before considered. For me, when a book truly lands, I tend to take pictures of certain phrases or feel compelled to tweet certain bits, and the book, in a few short pages can give me insight and empathy to situations and people that I would not encounter otherwise.
My winner this year is Wandering Souls which is about a family of refugees from Vietnam, known as boat people, that were eventually taken to Sopley, a former Air Force Base in Hampshire. Two days after I started reading this debut novel, our government announced that they would begin housing asylum seekers on barges, or floating prisons, off of the Dorset coast. The timing made me want to send a copy of Wandering Souls to any and all officials involved in this decision in the hopes of exposing the smallest thread of empathy. The book reinforced for me that no humans are illegal and that fictional accounts expose us to the realities that refugees face whether it be in the 1970s or present day. Pin’s prose, the way she set the narrative up and expresses grief and regret is beautifully told. I struggled to put it down, and given the mirror it holds up to current conditions, it is my winner for 2023.
The other five books that would make up my shortlist are:
I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel 5 stars
This novel is like reading Roxane Gay or bell hooks with inner demons and broken bits on display whilst the personal turmoil is happening in real time with plot. The anger and resentment is palpable. It is dark, visceral, honest and gripping. It felt like I was reading some of my own diary when out of the fever haze of love and obsession
Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris 5 stars
I just sobbed through the last ten pages. This might be the most visually visceral book I have ever read. I craved seeing her work and feeling her brushstrokes and seeing the bridges. I can’t help but think of my friend Lana who has returned to Lviv and her mom and their dog. I keep imagining how vital it is that this book in particular be saved from a library engulfed in flames. It really is a masterpiece.
Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks 4 stars
Starting out with one of the more striking covers that I’ve seen in years, I saved Fire Rush until I could give it my full attention. Whilst reading it, I wanted the soundtrack to play in tandem. I wanted to hear the music and be in the crypt and relocate to the time when it was set. There is so much going on and yet so much unsaid between the lines but the themes of police brutality, generational trauma and music as an escape are powerful. The women in the booking pulling each other together and tearing each other down and being silenced and unseen by men other than as collateral damage all spoke to me.
Pod by Laline Paull 4 stars
Back to thinking about how this book lands within the news cycle of today; reading about how human’s largesse and plastic waste and ships have destroyed the ocean is one thing in headlines about fishing supplies and whale hunts; but Paull has created an entire world under the sea complete with a love story. I worried a bit that I wouldn’t be drawn in; but her deft descriptions of manta rays and cleaning stations complete with humour brought me into the world she created and made me mourn for those sacrificed. It’s a memorable telling of power struggles, drug addictions and collective responsibility whilst your home is being torn apart and taken from your community.
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy 4 stars
Kennedy gives us a glimpse into the simmering underbelly of the conflict in Northern Ireland. The telling of a Catholic teacher and barmaid in a forbidden affair with a married Protestant barrister is incredibly tense and devastating. There is one scene where Cushla, wildly out of her depth, burns her arm retrieving food whilst teaching a group of protestants, one of whom she is having an affair with. I could almost smell her skin being singed and her humiliation. Her hope and treatment of her students is so kind and gentle and touched with anger and hope; that she is a character that will stay with me for a long time.
Here are the quick takes on the rest of the longlist:
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell 3 stars
O’Farrell is a genius with words and placing you into a world that is rich and lustrous and this book is no exception; but I struggled to keep picking it up. I loved the scenes where she was being painted and revisited them a few times; but almost seethed with hatred for her family which is, I guess, down to O’Farrell’s gift.
Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova 4 stars
I loved this and made me feel like I was pulling back the curtain at the Rio Cinema in Dalston. I got a kick at the end finding out that Grudova did work at a cinema. The nod to Cinema Paradiso. The crazy regulars, the bed sores old buildings have that fester and are covered up, the eccentricities of a team of misfits who live, work and sleep together. It’s brilliant and reminded me of the 1991 film Night on Earth
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff 2 stars
Really strong premise was let down by muddled characterisations and farcical plot twists. Instead of relying on the character arc and reuniting old friends, so much additional back story, added at odd points late in the narrative didn’t compel the story forward so momentum was lost and the novel floundered for me.
The Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKenzie 3 stars
Dark, funny and farcical. Particularly enjoyed the grandmother’s psyche. It was other world with brilliantly drawn characters but thought it lost steam in the last hundred pages.
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow 1 star
Book marketing and covers are important; as are blurbs and descriptions. This book looked like a female empowerment novel; and was sold in the airport as a beach read. Instead you are left with a brutal child rape on page 9— the sensational details of which are never explained. Men are let off with excuses about djinnis and war trauma. There is no accountability for the incestuous rape and she is subjected to her relative again. I work in violence against women and the book infuriated me on every level and I would not have intentionally picked it up. That it was well crafted and written seems beside the point when the rest was handled so poorly.
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes 3 stars
The problem with being as brilliant as Haynes is, is that the bar that her work sets is so high. So although I loved Stone Blind, it didn’t turn my head the way A Thousand Ships did. I don’t have a huge base of knowledge about Greek Mythology and needn’t worry when diving in to her work. I really enjoy the modern lens as applied
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 4 stars
It’s an amazing book, and carries the weight of so much history and insight, but I struggled a bit to continue to pick it up knowing just how dark it was. A testament to an adaptation that is able to work without having read the source material, or inspiration. It’s a complex and gritty world and the intricacy and pain was compelling.
Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh 4 stars
Feels a bit like I have just come out of a fever dream. Not really sure what I’ve just read; but captivated, enticed and want more. It’s creepy and pitch perfect. What a book.
Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo 3 stars
It is incredibly well done but I struggled with 400 pages of the allegory. It out 1984ed 1984 and went on way too long for me although some of the visual references around the wall of the dead and butterflies will stay with me.
Homesick by Jennifer Croft 3 stars
Feels a bit like a Cusk novel but gentler. The observational manner of the writing makes it simple to read but harder to decipher. The trauma is somehow lessened by the style of writing.
The shortlist is announced April 26th and the winner will be announced June 14th.
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