The 2020 Booker Prize Longlist was announced yesterday. It consists of 13 novels, which they affectionately refer to as the “Booker’s Dozen” (ha ha). As a reminder, the Booker Prize is awarded for the best original novel, written in the English language, and published in the UK and Ireland.
To be honest, I’m not thrilled with this list.
Some of the books are ones that I specifically didn’t read because the reviews have been a bit unenthusiastic (Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler) or mixed (Apeirogon by Colum McCann). I’ve actually only read one book on this list (Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid) and I thought it was pretty mediocre. I’m also surprised Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell didn’t make the cut. It’s on my to-read list, since I know so many people who have loved it.
The panel choosing these books consisted of: Margaret Busby (chair), editor, literary critic and former publisher; Lee Child, author; Sameer Rahim, author and critic; Lemn Sissay, writer and broadcaster; and Emily Wilson, classicist and translator.
The books are listed below if you want to check them out! I’ll update this list with the Shortlist and Winner as they are announced!
What It's About: Who They Was is an electrifying autobiographical British novel: a debut that truly breaks new ground and shines a light on lives that run on parallel, but wildly different tracks.
This life is like being in an ocean. Some people keep swimming towards the bottom. Some people touch the bottom with one foot, or even both, and then push themselves off it to get back up to the top, where you can breathe. Others get to the bottom and decide they want to stay there. I don’t want to get to the bottom because I’m already drowning.
This is a story of a London you won’t find in any guidebooks.
Publication Date: September 3, 2020
What It's About: See the Full Summary and Review of Such a Fun Age Publication Date: December 31, 2019
I bought Bringing Up the Bodies on Saturday and I was telling my husband how cool Hilary Mantel is because she (to my knowledge) is the only author to win the award twice for the same series. So I was really excited to see The Mirror & The Light got nominated. Even if she doesn’t win that’s pretty impressive to have every book in your trilogy long listed (and hopefully shortlisted)!