Indian-origin author Avni Doshi on 2020 Booker Prize longlist
London:dubai-based Indianorigin author Avni Doshi is among the 13 authors longlisted for the prestigious 2020 Booker Prize for her debut novel ‘Burnt Sugar’, alongside double Booker winner Hilary Mantel for ‘The Mirror and The Light’.
The so-called “Booker Dozen” was unveiled on Tuesday after judges evaluated 162 novels published in the UK or Ireland between October 2019 and September 2020, with a shortlist of six to be whittled down by September in time for the 50,000pound literary prize in November.
“This utterly compelling read examines a complex and unusual mother-daughter relationship with honest, unflinching realism – sometimes emotionally wrenching but also cathartic, written with poignancy and memorability,” the judges said of
Doshi’s longlisted entry.
Doshi, born in the US and now living in Dubai, has previously spoken about the long journey to her first novel, which was released in India last year as ‘Girl in White Cotton’ and gets a UK release this Thursday as ‘Burnt Sugar’.
For the coveted Booker, Doshi goes head to head with literary heavyweight Mantel, who is in the running for her final instalment in her series set in King Henry VIII’S 16th century England.
“The Mirror and the Light completes a tragic arc in which Thomas Cromwell [Henry VII’S Minister] is finally brought down by the police state he designed. Mantel’s masterful exhibition of sly dialogue and exquisite description brings the Tudor world alive,” the judges said, in reference to her book.
British and Scottish nominees this year include
Gabriel Krauze for ‘Who They Was’, Douglas Stuart for ‘Shuggie Bain’ and Sophie Ward for ‘Love and Other Thought Experiments’. Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga is nominated for the third novel in her trilogy – ‘This Mournable Body’.
“Each of these books carries an impact that has earned it a place on the longlist, deserving of wide readership...,” said editor and literary critic Margaret Busby, chair of the 2020 judging panel.