The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019 longlist was announced earlier this week. The 16 nominated books are:
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Milkman by Anna Burns
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lilian Li
Bottled Goods by Sophie van Llewyn
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
Praise Songs for the Butterflies by Bernice L McFadden
Circe by Madeline Miller
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
Normal People by Sally Rooney
I didn’t post a list of predictions for the prize this year, but I would have mentioned ‘Ghost Wall’ by Sarah Moss and ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney as two of my preferences – they are also the only two on the list I have read. Apparently Kate Atkinson and Ali Smith no longer have their books submitted to literary awards for consideration otherwise I would have liked to see ‘Transcription’ or ‘Spring’ which is out later this month.
There is a fair amount of overlap with other prizes this year. Madeline Miller has been longlisted for ‘Circe’ having won the Prize in 2011 for her debut novel The Song of Achilles. ‘Freshwater’ by Akwaeke Emezi is also on the Wellcome Book Prize longlist and is the first book by a non-binary trans author to be longlisted for the prize and last year’s Man Booker Prize winner ‘Milkman’ by Anna Burns is there too.
Elsewhere, I like the sound of ‘Number One Chinese Restaurant’ by Lilian Li – a comic novel which I hadn’t heard of before about the Chinese immigrant community in Maryland and ‘Ordinary People’ by Diana Evans about two unhappily married couples in L0ndon. Even though I found Valeria Luiselli’s novella Faces in the Crowd to be a bit too abstract for my taste, I’m intrigued by her English language debut ‘Lost Children Archive’ about a road trip across the United States and the plight of those trying to cross the Mexico-US border.
Which longlisted books have you read and which ones are you keen to read?
A Little Blog of Books 
I’m keen to read Lost Children Archive as well, along with the two classical retelling. I didn’t get on with Ordinary People unfortunately.
LikeLike
Yes, I looked up Ordinary People on Goodreads this week and was surprised to see how many 2 star reviews there are!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad it’s not just me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Other books have gotten in the way of finishing ‘Silence of the Girls’ but I am liking it. ‘Milkman’ and ‘Ghost Wall’ are on my reading list, and now ‘Number One Chinese Restaurant’ as well!
LikeLike
That’s good to hear – I want to read Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have only read Milkman and Freshwater. I have American Marriage on my pile. I’ve read a lot about Lost Children Archive, so I am really looking forward to that one.
LikeLike
I haven’t read Milkman – reviews have been so divided, but I will probably pick it up eventually just tosee what side I fall on. I’m planning to read Freshwater soon as it’s on the Wellcome Book Prize list.
LikeLike
Waiting for the Barker and the Miller to come out in paperback! Apart from that there’s no reason for me not to have read Milkman, I just keep forgetting. And I’ve heard about the Chinese Restaurant book, it came across as being more “throwaway” and I didn’t realise it engaging enough to be listed for a prize so will have a go at that.
LikeLike
Annabel at Shiny New Books liked the Lilian Li book which is always a good sign 🙂
LikeLike
Interesting about Atkinson and Smith – explains why they’re not on the list. I really enjoyed the Lilian Li (only one I have read!)
LikeLike
Glad to hear you enjoyed it – I thought it sounded interesting!
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing the list. I’ve read Normal People and loved it. Unfortunately, it’s the only one I know, but there are quite a few on the list that sound really interesting, in particular Circe and My Sister, the Serial Killer. At the moment, I’m listening to the audiobook version of The Silence of the Girls. So far, I like it a lot.
Greetings from Vienna,
Niamh
LikeLike
I haven’t read any books by Pat Barker but I really should!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure! Based on this one, I can only recommend her!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Pisces by Melissa Broder was my favourite fiction book from last year 🙂 There so many more of these I need to read!
LikeLike
I’ve heard that it has divided opinion but I’m still intrigued!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve heard great things about Circe ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person