Hilary Mantel heads the field as Booker Prize longlist is revealed
Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & The Light is among the novels longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize.
It is the third book in the author’s Cromwell trilogy, and was selected for its “masterful exhibition of sly dialogue and exquisite description,” judges said.
Mantel has previously won the prize twice - for the first two novels in the trilogy, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies.
The longlist will be whittled down from 13 to a shortlist of six in September.
British nominees this year include Gabriel Krauze, Douglas Stuart and Sophie Ward.
Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembgawasnominated, like Mantel, for the third novel in her own trilogy entitled This Mournable Body.
This year’s longlist - nicknamed Booker’s dozen - features eight debut novels.
The prize, which has been presented since 1969, was last year jointly won by Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo.
The annual longlist was compiled from 162 Englishlanguage novels published in the UK or Ireland.
Margaret Busby, chair of the 2020 judges, said that each of the titles was “deserving of wide readership”.
“Included are novels carried by the sweep of history with memorable characters brought to life and given visibility, novels that represent a moment of cultural change, or the pressures an individual faces in pre and postdystopian society,” she said “Some of the books focus on interpersonal relationships that are complex, nuanced, emotionally charged. There are voices from minorities often unheard, stories that are fresh, bold and absorbing.”
The shortlist of six books will be announced on September 15 with the £50,000-prize winning author being revealed in November.
Diane Cook – The New Wilderness
Tsitsi Dangarembga – This Mournable Body Avni Doshi – Burnt Suga Gabriel Krauze – Who They Was
Hilary Mantel – The Mirror & The Light
Colum McCann – Apeirogon
Maaza Mengiste – The Shadow King Kiley Reid – Such a Fun Age Brandon Taylor – Real Life Anne Tyler – Redhead by The Side of The Road
Douglas Stuart – Shuggie Bain
Sophie Ward – Love and Other Thought Experiments
C Pam Zhang – How Much of These Hills is Gold