The 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction longlist: A U.S. Reader's Guide

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The Orange Prize Women's Prize for Fiction longlist is here! I'm not quite as obsessed as I have been in last years, but I still awaited the longlist with excited anticipation. I won't attempt to read the longlist before the winner is announced this year, but as most of the titles were already on my TBR, I will begin working through them, and I think I will attempt the shortlist once it's announced next month.

The Ones I've Already Read:

The Ones Available in the U.S. Now:




The One Coming Soon to the U.S.:
  • Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (Kindle edition)--coming April 2, 2013
The Ones We Hope Make Their Way to the U.S.:

  • A Trick I Learned From Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge
  • Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany
My thoughts: I'm pleased to see such a diverse list of established and debut authors. I'm thrilled eighteen of the twenty are available in the U.S.

Most intriguing: Will Barbara Kingsolver or Zadie Smith be the first woman to win the Prize twice? Will Hilary Mantel win and become the first woman to win the Booker and Women's Prize for the same novel? Will another debut novelist win (the last two winners have been debut novelists)? We'll know more when the shortlist is announced next month.

Now tell me: Which title are you most excited about? Which one should I read first?

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Comments

  1. ZibileeMarch 13, 2013 at 11:38 AM

    My vote is for Bring Up the Bodies, though Gone Girl is a close second!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jennifer CMarch 13, 2013 at 12:48 PM

    I recommend you read The Light Between the Oceans. It's sort of a quiet, thoughtful read about what motherhood/parenthood really means and the lengths people will go through to keep what they believe is theirs. It's one of those books where there is no "right" answer once the characters have gone past a certain point. And it's beautifully written.

    Plus, it's set in a lighthouse in Australia- can't get much more exotic than that for me :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMarch 13, 2013 at 1:56 PM

    It is great to see that so many are available in the US already. I'm most looking forward to reading Alif the Unseen, although there is a risk it will be too weird for me. My favourite so far is Lamb - it is great to see it on the list! I hope you enjoy reading through the list - I look forward to comparing notes with you.

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  4. Alex in LeedsMarch 13, 2013 at 4:20 PM

    I agree it's interesting to see previous winners in the mix along with debut authors. I am going to try a couple more titles but my favourite so far was Bring Up The Bodies, closely followed by Life After Life. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. VasillyMarch 14, 2013 at 12:40 AM

    When I think of this prize, I think of you so I had to "visit" and see if you had a post up! This year, I'm pretty excited about the longlist. There's no way I can read them all before the shortlist is announced, but about ten of them I'm really hoping to read soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. TiMarch 14, 2013 at 10:05 AM

    I loved Lamb and The Light Between Oceans. I am horrible at predicting these things so I will leave it all up to chance!

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  7. AudraMarch 14, 2013 at 2:20 PM

    Very interesting list! I'm most curious to see The People of Forever Are Not Afraid get some love -- I'm dying to read it, and the premise intrigues me. I'm definitely not rooting for Kingsolver -- I really hated Flight Behavior -- and I love when lesser known authors get the boost!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMarch 14, 2013 at 3:05 PM

    I've read WYG, BERNADETTE (loved), THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS (loved), LAMB (loved), and THE INNOCENTS (meh). I'm surprised but extremely happy about LAMB. It's difficult to read because of the subject matter, but it's a great book. And the LIGHT BTWN OCEANS made me cry sooo much.

    I hope to read HONOR, LIFE AFTER LIFE, and ALIF THE UNSEEN soon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. JennyMarch 14, 2013 at 3:29 PM

    I'm glad to see The Light Between Oceans on there! I really want to read a Zadie Smith book, but I think I'll start with On Beauty since that one's on my shelf already.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AthiraMarch 14, 2013 at 6:34 PM

    I love this year's list! I haven't been that intrigued by this prize lately, but I think I may actually read most of the books on the list this time.

    ReplyDelete
  11. LindseyMarch 19, 2013 at 3:36 PM

    If I remember correctly, the availability is much better this year. There were several I wanted to read last year that weren't published in the US yet.

    I've read two of the books that you read. I think my next one will be The People of Forever Are Not Afraid.

    ReplyDelete
  12. BooksnycMarch 19, 2013 at 4:10 PM

    I have not read a single book on the list! But I do have some on my shelves - Gone Girl, The Red Book, NW and Honor. I wonder if I will get to any of them before the prize is announced.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Buried In PrintMarch 19, 2013 at 7:06 PM

    Like you, I am a little-less obsessed this year, but, having said that, some of the books are really intriguing, and more time browsing might well increase said-obsession. The only one that I've read is Light Between Oceans, so I have some good reading ahead, by the looks of it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gayle WeiswasserApril 15, 2013 at 12:59 AM

    Lots of good titles here. Thanks for keeping me up to date!

    ReplyDelete

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