What a fantastic year this has been for first novels. I’ve just come from the hotly debated shortlist meeting. All will be revealed shortly… but just to whet your appetite, here is the longlist. From a record number of submissions (60+) we boiled it down to 12 brilliant debuts:
The Trader of Saigon by Lucy Cruickshanks (Heron)
The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence (Hodder)
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer (HarperCollins)
The Palace of Curiosities by Rosie Garland (HarperCollins)
Vauxhall by Gabriel Gbadamosi (Telegram)
Hunters in the Snow by Daisy Hildyard (Cape)
Petite Mort by Beatrice Hitchman (Serpent’s Tail)
The Fields by Kevin Maher (Little, Brown)
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride (Galley Beggar)
The Banner of the Passing Clouds by Anthea Nicholson (Granta)
The Rice Paper Diaries by Francesca Rhydderch (Seren)
The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones by Jack Wolf (Chatto)
Somehow we managed to get this down to six… no blood spilt, only red wine! Which would you choose?
The shortlist will be revealed on Friday.
