Hello Gentle Reader
Hilary Mantel has been shortlisted again for another major award. Ms. Mantel finds herself once again shortlisted this time for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize). It’s been a good year for Hilary Mantel. First she wins the Booker Prize for the second time, being the first woman to do so, and being the first English author to do so as well. Then she won the Costa Book Award in the categories of Novel and Best Book of the Year; for her second novel in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy “Bringing Up the Bodies.” The judges, who are awarding the Women’s Prize for Fiction, need to decide if they are going to give the award to Hilary Mantel and in an essence give her a Royal Flush. Though it would be the icing on the cake; and truly it would be a profitable year for Hilary Mantel. All she would need to do in order to top this kind of achievement would be win The Nobel Prize for Literature – who may or may not be in her future – anything is possible truly. Others who have been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction are past winners Barbra Kingsolver and Zadie Smith. The full shortlist is as follows:
Kate Atkinson “Life After Life,”
A.M. “May We Be Forgotten,”
Maria Semple “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,”
Babara Kingsolver “Flight Behaviour,”
Hilary Mantel “Bringing up The Bodies,”
Zadie Smith “NW,”
This is a bold shortlist; not because of its innovation or its almost surprising authors that have been chosen, but innovative in the fact that it follows what some have called, a rather predictable outcome. Hilary Mantel has been showered with awards, in the recent years. She has had a great success with her trilogy of novels that trace the life of Thomas Cromwell and the Tudor Era. Many have stated that she deserves the awards, and prizes because her work is great. Miranda Richardson chair of the Women’s Prize for Fiction has said the following in regards to Mantel being shortlisted:
“I was very keen to keep a balanced approach about Hilary Mantel, because we have in the UK this tall-poppy syndrome: 'You've already had too much; you can't have any more. Go away and die now.' It's disgusting, frankly, because this competition is about excellence for writing.”
Many agree with this argument. That the prize is to be awarded to the book that deserves it; it’s the integrity of the award itself. It should not be bias to past winners or to new authors. Some feel that the prize should be given to someone new. That there must be a certain sense of kindness and inclusiveness placed on up and coming and younger authors, as they compete with older and more established writers. Personally, some new fresh air never hurts; and some new blood, often defeats predictability. If Mantel does win this prize, certainly one needs to raise a glass to her achievement, and hope that she can top it again with the final book in her trilogy “The Mirror and The Light.” Great literature should be awarded based on their literary merits alone.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
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Stay Well Read
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M. Mary
