Litbuzz: Women’s prize for fiction: Someone other than Mantel

Published
0

In a face-off against the likes of Hilary Mantel and Zadie Smith and four other strong nominees for the 2013 Women’s prize for fiction, A.M. Homes won the judges approval for her dark satirical novel May We be Forgiven. Mantel was, not surprisingly, the bookies’ favorite to take the prestigious award home, given that her entry for the award, Bring up the Bodies, had already claimed the 2012 Man Booker Prize.

women's-fiction-prize
The panel of judges chaired by actor Miranda Richardson announced the winner at the end of a four hour long meeting where “Everything was very passionately debated because all books were capable of winning”. Homes’ willingness to step into the crazy right in the first few pages, her indulgence in subtle arcane humor and imagination scored big with the judges. According to Richardson, “It was so fresh and so funny – darkly funny – and so unexpectedly moving,” that it secured the award. It is a book which one recommends to friends, they said.

The book was initially meant to be a short story but eventually evolved into its present form after Homes decided to entertain herself and write something she liked. In a particularly different take on contemporary American life and the American dream, she explores the perversion, violence and loopholes using dark humour.

The nominees for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction were:

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

NW by Zadie Smith

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

May We be Forgiven by A.M. Homes

Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Opinion

Editorial

Makkah pact clarity
Updated 22 Oct, 2026

Makkah pact clarity

Fresh aggression can kick off a firestorm that will be in no one’s control, hence it is best to abandon such reckless plans.
Common ground
22 Oct, 2026

Common ground

IT appears that the PML-N, echoing the PPP’s recent offer, is also willing to re-engage with the opposition, at...
The treatment gap
22 Oct, 2026

The treatment gap

A BREAST cancer diagnosis no longer carries the bleak outlook it did a generation ago. Targeted medicines,...
Real FBR reform
21 Oct, 2026

Real FBR reform

REFORM of the FBR has always been easier to promise than to deliver. Since the late 1990s, governments have tried...
Missing lawmakers
Updated 21 Oct, 2026

Missing lawmakers

Some lawmakers have reportedly been in detention since before Oct 11.
Tackling rabies
21 Oct, 2026

Tackling rabies

RABIES is a deadly but preventable zoonotic disease. On Monday, two more victims succumbed to it in Sindh, taking ...