This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Eimear McBride, a first-time novelist who failed to get her book published for almost a decade because it was deemed too experimental, was named the winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction last night.
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing, the winning novel, tells the story of a young woman’s relationship with her brother and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumour. The book triumphed over five other contenders including Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch – a favourite after its Pulitzer Prize win earlier this year – and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah.
Helen Fraser, chair of judges, says of the startling debut: “An amazing and ambitious first novel that impressed the judges with its inventiveness and energy. This is an extraordinary new voice – this novel will move and astonish the reader.”
The win will no doubt bolster the confidence of authors struggling to find a publisher for their own experimental fiction, too. After writing the book in just six months at the age of 27, McBride spent nine years collecting rejection slips until finding a home with independent publisher Galley Beggar Press in 2013, which encouraged Faber to snap up the paperback rights.During her acceptance speech, the Irish author shared hopes “that it will serve as an incentive to publishers everywhere to take a look at difficult books and to think again”.
The glittering awards ceremony took place at The Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London where 600 guests gathered to hear who would be crowned the winner (you can read our report on the evening tomorrow). Hosted by best-selling novelist and co-founder of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, Kate Mosse, Helen Fraser presented Eimear with the £30,000 prize.
Congratulations, Eimear!