Hilary Mantel on the Booker Longlist
The longlist for the Booker Awards was just announced in London. Hilary Mantel is one of the 12 authors, for Bring up the Bodies, her followup to the 2009 Booker winner, Wolf Hall. The second in a planned trilogy, Bring up the Bodies is already a best seller in the US. It hit the NYT bestseller list at #3, a direct result of the boost the Booker gave to the author’s visibility.
For reasons we’ve never been able to pinpoint, the Booker has more effect on sales in the U.S. than our own National Book Awards. Most of the winners of the British prize have ended up on the New York Times best seller list.
The award is open to citizens of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. Of the twelve writers just announced, nine are British, one Indian, one South African and one Malaysian.
The titles, with American publication information, are below:
Currently available in the US
Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis, Penguin Press, 4/12/12; Reviews, PW, starred; The Millions
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies, Macmillan/Holt, 5/8/12; Review links
Michael Frayn, Skios, Macmillan/Holt, 6/19/12; Reviews, Washington Post, by Michael Dirda; New York Times, by Michiko Kakutani; New York Times Book Review, by Alex Witchel; Seattle Times, by Michael Upchurch
Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Random House, 7/24/12; Review links
Upcoming US Publications
Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists, Perseus/ Weinstein Books, 8/14/12; Booklist review; LJ review by Barbara Hoffert
Will Self, Umbrella, Grove Press, 12/10/12
Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident, Bloomsbury US, 2/26/13; Review, The Independent; Profile of the author, The Guardian
Not Yet Scheduled
(publishers listed are British)
Nicola Barker, The Yips, HarperCollins/Fourth Estate; Review, The Guardian; Review, The Independent
André Brink, Philida, Random House/Harvill Secker
Deborah Levy, Swimming Home, And Other Stories, Publishing; Review, The Guardian
Alison Moore, The Lighthouse, Salt Publishing
Sam Thompson, Communion Town, HarperCollins/Fourth Estate; Review, The Telegraph
The shortlist of six authors will be announced on September 11th, and the winner on October 16h.