Alderman enjoys a Baileys
Naomi Alderman shows off the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, presented in London on Wednesday for her novel The Power. She also receives £30,000. Ms Alderman said: “Feminist writing has shown me purpose. My book shows what women can do”
NAOMI ALDERMAN has won the Baileys Prize for Fiction for her fourth novel, The Power.
The announcement was made at a glitzy ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday. Formerly the Orange Prize, the award is considered the most prestigious for fiction written by a woman.
Ms Alderman — whose debut novel Disobedience was set within the Hendon Orthodox community — was chosen ahead of five other shortlisted works, including The Dark Circle by fellow Jewish novelist Linda Grant.
The Power is a futuristic tale following four women who discover that with a flick of their fingers, they can inflict agonising pain and even death. The JC reviewed the book as “a dynamic, fast-moving, super–realistic, ultragraphic work packed with appalling violence”.
Ms Alderman says: “It’s a novel of ideas. What would happen if women had the power to cause pain and destruction? Do we really believe that women are naturally peaceful and nurturing? How much of gender is in our expectations of violence?
“But it’s also a thriller. In pursuit of power, each of the main characters will eventually come into conflict with the others and they’re each a force to be reckoned with.”
Among many previous accolades for her work, Ms Alderman won the Orange Award for New Writers and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. She was selected for Granta’s once-a-decade list of best young British novelists and Waterstones’ Writers for the Future.
The London-based writer also presents Science Stories on Radio 4 and is professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University. She is the co-creator and lead writer of the bestselling smartphone audio adventure app and book Zombies, Run!