This year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist was announced today. The twenty novels are:
So far, I have read three of the longlisted novels. I loved ‘Elizabeth is Missing’ by Emma Healey which was probably my favourite debut novel of 2014 and ‘The Paying Guests’ by Sarah Waters. I didn’t love ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel but it has been very popular and I’m not surprised to see it on the longlist.
The books I hoped would feature on the list but didn’t make the cut were:
Academy Street by Mary Costello – an excellent novella Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill – another excellent novella Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng – probably my second favourite debut novel of 2014Whereas the Man Booker Prize longlist usually features a few titles which have yet to be published, the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist always seems more familiar and therefore slightly easier to predict. Moreover, there are twenty books on the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist compared to thirteen on the Man Booker Prize longlist so there tends to be more room for variety and a good balance between established authors and new names. The two novels on this year’s longlist I definitely want to read are ‘A Spool of Blue Thread’ by Anne Tyler and ‘How To Be Both’ by Ali Smith and I’m keen to find out more about some of the less well-known novels like ‘Crooked Heart’ by Lissa Evans.
The shortlist will be announced on 13th April and the winner will be announced on 3rd June. What do you think of this year’s longlist? Have you read any of the books? What are your predictions for the shortlist? Who are you rooting for to win?
A Little Blog of Books 
How to be both is excellent, I really liked it. (Read it when I was reading the Booker shortlist.) Station eleven is next up on my tbr – I’m sorry to hear you didn’t like it, everybody else has had very good things to say about it. I’m also pleased to see Elizabeth is Missing on the list! I’ll probably read the shortlist when it’s announced.
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The more I hear about How to be Both, the more I want to read it! My views about Station Eleven seem to be very much in the minority and it will be interesting to see if it appears on the shortlist.
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Reblogged this on M.T. Miles.
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I’m afraid the only one I’ve read is ‘Station Eleven’ and I was pretty underwhelmed by it, despite the rave reviews it’s garnering. The one I most want to read is ‘The Bees’ – hearing great things about it!
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Me too, I wonder if Station Eleven will appear on the shortlist? The Bees sounds interesting and terrifying!
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I’ve read a few on the list and have a few in my TBR stack. Personally, I was CRUSHED that Essbaum’s ‘Hausfrau’ didn’t make the list, and equally Costello’s Academy Street.
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Yes I really wanted to see Academy Street on the longlist too – it’s exquisitely written. I haven’t read Hausfrau but have heard good things about it!
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I loved Station Eleven and really liked The Bees. I also loved Everything I Never Told You. I have How to be Both but I’m really daunted by its format. I’m looking forward to reading The Paying Guests.
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I didn’t love Station Eleven but I did love Everything I Never Told You and The Paying Guests. I share your feelings about the format of How to be Both but over the past few months, I’ve been persuaded to give it a try.
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I’m delighted to see Ali Smith on the list. Loved How to be both – it’s such a layered novel. Very clever, but it never feels too smart for its own good.
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That’s really good to hear! I didn’t rush out to read it when it was on the Booker shortlist but I’ve heard such good things about it since then that I will definitely give it a go this year.
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I haven’t read any that are on this list, however How to Be Both is on my TBR along with A Spool of Blue thread. The one thing really surprise me is that there aren’t any black writers on the list. That’s disappointing.
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Yes, I think this longlist is less diverse than it has been in previous years. Still looking forward to both A Spool of Blue Thread and How to be Both.
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Yes me too because I’m not familiar with the other besides The Bees.
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I’m excited about this longlist. It seems to have a nice range. I’ve only read Elizabeth Is Missing and didn’t like it as much as others. I’m planning to read How to Be Both and The Bees next month. Two or three of the others won’t be available in the US until later this year.
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Yes I think the Baileys Prize usually gets a good balance between established authors and new names. I’m looking forward to reading How to be Both. The Bees sounds terrifying, though!
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I feel bad saying this but I liked only half of How To Be Both! Even so I’m pleased she’s on the list in a way because I think she’s such a great writer – and besides she’s Scottish and we are nothing if not parochial! Of the books I’ve read on the list I really enjoyed Elizabeth Is Missing and I thought The Bees was fantastic.
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That’s very interesting – I guess it’s inevitable that one half of How to be Both would be stronger than the other! Glad you enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing too. The Bees sounds pretty terrifying to me!
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If I wasn’t reading for the IFFP, I’d SO be reading for this! Next year!
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Me too, I want to shadow all of the prizes! 🙂
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I really enjoyed reading Station Eleven, The Paying Guests and The Country of Ice Cream Star; like you, I’m really surprised Hausfrau and The Dept. of Speculation are not on this list but, as with all of these awards, I always feel like many deserving folks are left out! Thanks so much for sharing the list!
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Thanks for your comment! I loved The Paying Guests and Dept. of Speculation. I haven’t got round to Hausfrau yet but looking forward to reading it soon! 🙂
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If I had to guess I’d say The Paying Guests will win on June 3. I liked The Girl Who Was Saturday Night and had hoped it would make the shortlist, but alas no. Right now I’m reading A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie which made the shortlist. I will see if I like it. I must admit How to Be Both doesn’t interest me too much. Just too much on the structure of it. Cheers.
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Thank you for such a good summary of the long-list – I was so late catching up with the prize this year I feel like I’m working backwards from the shortlist (current favourite – ‘A God in Every Stone’, though I’d be happy for any of the books I’ve read so far to win). Thanks for the ‘Elizabeth is Missing’ plug. It’s steadily moving up my to be read pile.
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Thanks! I would like to see How to be both by Ali Smith win the prize and I think Elizabeth is Missing is a very impressive debut.
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