WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION | 2018 LONGLIST (AND HOW MY GUESSES STACKED UP)

The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018 Longlist has finally been announced! Without any further ado, here it is:

H(A)PPY by Nicola Barker
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon
Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Sight by Jessie Greengrass
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
The Trick to Time by Kit de Waal
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

This means that my guesses lined up as follows:

                 

               

               

               

          

And here are the books I didn’t guess:

             

             

So I got 7/16 right, which really isn’t bad for my first attempt at predicting the longlist. On top of which there were at least five that I hadn’t heard anything or very much about, so they weren’t even on my radar. I’m feeling pretty proud of myself.

I’m a little disappointed that The Lie of the Land didn’t make it, and I’m very surprised that Conversations with Friends, Winter, Tin Man and Little Fires Everywhere didn’t make it – I thought they were certain to at least make it into the first round! But this just goes to highlight one of the things I love about the Women’s Prize for Fiction – that it will always hold some surprises for even the most avid readers, and it will also provide recommendations of new books to check out.

For my part I’ve already added Sight, H(a)ppy and The Idiot to my TBR, only one of which I’d even heard of in the past year. So I call that a significant win!

What was your reaction to the longlist? Did it measure up with your predictions/expectations at all? Which books from the list have you already read or do you plan to pick up? Share in the comments!