On June 12, The Women’s Prize for Fiction will announce the winning novel from a shortlist of six books (and from a longlist of sixteen). Originally the prize was set up as a refreshing alternative to the male dominated Booker. Now in its thirtieth year, the prize still manages to be consistent with the quality of its winners. The fact that there are only three that I don’t like (no, I’m not naming them) is a testament to the strength of the prize.
Like everyone else, I like a good list so I decided to write about my five favourite winners from the twenty-nine winners so far. As it stands, I have read 28 of them, the only missing one being V.V. Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night. Hopefully I’ll get round to reading that later on in 2025.
And I’ll be starting backwards, with fifth place.
5. A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne (1999 Winner)
I feel that A Crime in the Neighborhood is the underdog of the prize: a quiet and contemplative book which lulls the reader with an odd serenity, until that’s all shattered: The main protagonist, Marsha lives a cosy existence in American suburbia until three events wake her up, and she puts together a book of evidence to record the happenings around her. Little does she know that her actions are creating repercussions.
Partly crime investigation, mostly coming of age tale, A Crime in the Neighborhood is a more unsettling Harriet the Spy for grown-ups.
4. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2021 Winner)
Susanna Clarke’s second novel, Piranesi was published in 2020 and when I read it during the pandemic, I was certain that it would be win the women’s prize the following year. It’s worth noting that Piranesi arrived after a fourteen year wait after Clarke’s debut, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell, also a momentous novel.
Piranesi is the kind of book that I gravitate to. At first things are unclear: a person is in a temple of sorts filled with statues and floods occasionally. As more clues are dropped, the plot becomes clearer until the reader figures out what is going on. Like a labyrinth, Piranesi throws a lot of twists and surprises at the reader but does offer closure of sorts. Susanna Clarke not only has crafted an intriguing novel but one that reveals new layers with each reading.
3. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2012 Winner)
I remember starting Madeline Miller’s book on an early morning bus ride. Upon reading the first page, I was struck by the poetry of the language. The book is narrated by the Greek Hero Patroclus who was, allegedly, Achilles lover. What grabbed me was the way Patroclus professes his love for Achilles: it is delicate, heartfelt and contains so much beauty. One can feel his emotions. As the setting is the Trojan War, Patroclus is fighting two conflicts, The physical one and the inwardly one, which is his want to develop his relationship. Myth fans will know what happened to Achilles and that section is one of the most powerful sections of the book: Declaring an undying love for someone who is dying. I have nothing but praise for The Song of Achilles.
The Song of Achilles also started (along with Canongate’s myth series) the myth retelling craze which is now slowly losing its power. Unfortunately, and this is a controversial opinion, I found Madeline Miller’s second book, Circe rather mediocre. She is currently working on a third novel about Persephone and I’ll be looking forward to that.
2. Small Island by Andrea Levy (2004 Winner)
There are such things as perfect novels and Andrea Levy’s Small Island is up there.
Told through the perspectives of four people: two are Jamaicans Gilbert Joseph and Hortense who emigrate to Britain via The Empire Windrush in 1948, one landlord, Queenie, who is renting out her apartment to Jamaicans and her racist husband, Bernard, who is travelling back to Britain after fighting the second World War in India.
Small Island tackles racism in post war Britain and the struggles Jamaicans had to go through. Although the topic is serious, Levy manages to inject humour into the gritty situations of the main protagonists. With memorable characters and many well written passages, Small Island questions which landmass is the smaller one: Jamaica or the UK.
1 How to be Both by Ali Smith (2015 Winner)
How to be Both is a book I have spoken about, recommended, added to lists and enters my thought processes daily. In addition to the The Women’s Prize, a deserved accolade, it also won The Goldsmiths and Costa Novel awards, which proves that this is a book that can reach different audiences.
The novel is split into two narratives. One involves a renaissance painter who looks back on his life. The other is about a girl who is obsessed by the said renaissance painter. Ali Smith requested that 50% of the printed novel starts with the painter narrative and vice versa! My copy starts with the painter and I’m glad it does as this is the more experimental section of the novel which then segues into the next section, which is more Ali Smith’s recognisable style.
I’m being purposely superficial as I want the reader to discover all the treats within the book. As this is an Ali Smith book, there’s a huge meta element where even the cover is an integral part of the story!
Ali Smith has a knack for stuffing themes in her books: How to be Both is about art, gender, grief and history’s ability to be cyclic. This is just scraping the surface. There’s much more.
How to be Both is, for me, what the Woman’s prize for Fiction represents: experimental, readable a book that leaves an impact, and stays in the mind for life.
All their winners have done this to me to various degrees, which makes me think that it’s still one of the strongest prizes out there.
