The Walter Scott Prize Academy today released their twenty recommended historical novels to have been published in the last year across the UK, Ireland and Commonwealth countries. Subjects and settings range from steamships in the Chilean Civil War to warships in Greenock during WW2, and from 1920s Hollywood to 18th century slavery in The Cape, and the list includes newly published historical novels from Australia, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and England.
We are delighted to announce that TLC client Rhiannon Lewis is among the recommended authors, and we are thrilled to see My Beautiful Imperial gaining recognition.
The Walter Scott Prize Academy Recommended Books are:
The Death of the Fronsac by Neal Ascherson (Apollo, UK)
Mrs Osmond by John Banville (Viking, UK)
Softness of the Lime by Maxine Case (Umuzi, South Africa)
He by John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton, UK)
Larchfield by Polly Clark (Riverrun, UK)
Goblin by Ever Dundas (Saraband, UK)
The Water Beetles by Michael Kaan (Goose Lane Editions, Canada)
The Iron Age by Arja Kajermo (Tramp Press, Ireland)
My Beautiful Imperial by Rhiannon Lewis (Victorina Press, UK)
Soot by Andrew Martin (Corsair, UK)
Story Land by Catherine McKinnon (4th Estate, Australia)
Amah and the Silk-Winged Pigeons by Jocelyn Nullity (Inanna Publications, Canada)
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt (Tinder Press, Australia)
A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert (Virago, UK)
Speakeasy by Alisa Smith (Douglas & McIntyre, Canada)
A Reckoning by Linda Spalding (McClelland & Stewart, Canada)
The Secret Books by Marcel Theroux (Faber & Faber, UK)
The Esquimaux by Tom Tivnan (Silvertail Books, UK)
City of Crows by Chris Womersley (Picador, Australia)
The Photographer by Mieke Ziervogel (Salt, UK)
The twenty books recommended by the Academy are in addition to the Prize longlist of thirteen, which was released at the beginning of March. A shortlist will be announced in April.
The Walter Scott Prize Academy is an advisory group feeding into the submission process of the prestigious Walter Scott Prize, and comprises people at the centre of literary life in the UK and Commonwealth countries, including the artistic directors of book festivals around the world, leading book retailers and literary critics. The Academy was created two years ago to help broaden the reach of the Prize and strengthen its resources.
The Duchess of Buccleuch, the prize sponsor said:
“We’re delighted with the depth and richness of the recommended titles that our learned academy from home and overseas have brought to our attention. We would like to thank our Academy for giving us the opportunity to shine a light and share historical novels from further afield”
The winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2018 will be announced at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose in Scotland, in June 2018. The winner receives £25,000, while each shortlisted author receives £1,000, making the Walter Scott Prize amongst the richest fiction prizes in the UK.
