It’s that time of year again! The Women’s Prize for Fiction has released their longlist, and the bookish world is abuzz with excitement and predictions. I have not been doing a good job of keeping up with new releases over the past year, so for I think the first year ever, while I’ve heard of some of the authors on this year’s list, these books are all new to me. I’m both excited and a little embarrassed by that! But now that they’ve all been brought to my attention I’m enjoying learning about them and, as I do every prize season, adding exponentially to my TBR. Here are the books on this year’s longlist:
I am most interested in And Then She Fell and Soldier Sailor as both are about motherhood – a topic I feel is getting written about more often, but still not enough. In Defence of the Act is another one that strikes my interest as it seems to discuss end of life choices and the ethics and morality of them. Restless Dolly Maunder is about a woman at the end of the 19th century who is pushing hard against the boundaries of womens’ traditional roles, and I’m interested to find out more about her. But this list is a wonderful mix of books that all have their own voice and story, and there really is something for every reader on this list. I’m excited to see more discussion about the longlisted titles, and even more to see which make it through to the shortlist on April 24th!
