The Man Booker Prize Longlist was released in late July. This prize is one of the leading prizes an author can hope to attain. This year it opened internationally to all original english language works, prompting judges to select 3 British writers, 5 US writers, and 1 from Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, India, Nigeria, and Jamaica as candidates for the final prize. Each of these authors received £2,500 for making the longlist, and a look at their works will tell you why. Interested in more Literary Book Awards? Check out our post on the Six Book Awards you don't want to miss!
Bill Clegg - Did You Ever Have a Family
If you've ever lost a friend or a family member, you know grief. So imagine losing your entire family on what's meant to be one of the happiest days of your life. Bill Clegg takes us through life after a mother's greatest tragedies, exposing the wonders of a community that grows to fill its sadness.
Anne Enright - The Green Road
Anne Enright is a well established author, and its difficult to believe someone so versed in literary fiction can outdo their previous works, but she has done so with her newest novel. In a story as much about the separation of family members as the reuniting of them, this novelist takes us somewhere we don't always want to return to, but can always find some familiarity in: home.
Marlon James - A Brief History of Seven Killings
A 2015 American book award winner, a New York Times Book review notable book and book of the year according to many publications, this newest novel by Marlon James has a lot of people talking; and for good reason. Following the attack on Bob Marley's home in 1976, this groundbreaking story weaves through complex characters and decades of change to reveal the stretch of evil, justice, and fate.
Laila Lalami - The Moor's Account
Discoveries of America have long been attributed to white men. This piece of historical fiction tells an unknown tale; that of a Moroccan slave in the company of his master and two other conquistadors as they travel through an unmarked land to spoils that would rival Cortez. But this expedition is not without its missteps, resistance and altering motivations.
Tom McCarthy - Satin Island
Ever try to write a self-summary? Find it difficult? Imagine being tasked with the job of writing a report on your entire generation. This story explores the current climates of culture, business, and what consequences they might hold for the future.
Chigozie Obioma - The Fishermen
Set in a small Nigerian town, this novel about a family of four brothers explores the tragedy and redemption of an act of fratricide. Spinning a strong framework of family and the powers persuasion, Chigozie Obioma certainly succeeds with his premiere novel.
Andrew O'Hagan - The Illuminations
It isn't the easiest thing to convince ourselves of a reality seperate from the one we're stuck in. This novel, set in Scotland, allows us to step into the lives of two people, a veteran and his artistic aunt, who can do just that. If you're looking for an excuse to find adventure in your banal life, pick this one up.
Marilynne Robinson - Lila
A wandering woman finds shelter in a church and love in the man who ministers there. This new found love puts her on a path separate from the scrapped out life she lived in the past. There was good in the relationship she had with the woman that saved her years ago, but is there better in the love she's found in this minister's holier worldview?
Anuradha Roy - Sleeping on Jupiter
Looking for a large cast of different characters? Sleeping on Jupiter sets three old women, a temple guide, an intriguing young woman, and a photographer in the pilgrimage city of Jarmuli, a place that hides something dark beneath its peaceful surface.
Sunjeev Sahota - The Year of the Runaways
This story trails a diverse group of people with the same country of origin, India, through new lives in England. Separated from their true homes by necessity, The Year of the Runaways speaks to the pauses and persistence of the human will.
Anna Smaill - The Chimes
Imagine a world where you cannot remember. Imagine a world where the melodies push and pull your will. Imagine having no one but yourself, lost without memory in infinite music. If that's challenging to imagine, then try experiencing Anna Smaill's The Chimes. It promises to be an entrapping read.
Anne Tyler - A Spool of Blue Thread
Families make strong themes for many good pieces of literature. The most powerful of these carry the reader through all of the family's events: uplifting and sorrowful, comical and tragic. This generational tale of one Baltimore family carries its readers through four generations of the world the Whitshanks share publicly, and the one they keep hidden.
Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life
This novel is about a group of college friends moving from Massachusetts to New York. Beyond that, its about the dark realities a harsh world traps them in as they seek to achieve the dreams they've looked after. Friendship is more than a walk through Hundred Acre Woods, and this novel explores the hard depths of what that relationship can be stretched to save.
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