Novelicious Goes To...The Melissa Nathan Awards

The winner of the fifth Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance was announced last night at a gala evening at the Café de Paris, in London. Judged from over 90 entries, the winning novel from the short list of six was declared to be:

MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND by Helen Simonson

Our fabulous Novelicious writers Amanda Keats and Cesca Martin attended the event. Here's what happened….

Cesca: We arrived at the swanky Cafe de Paris (must pronounce in French accent or friends think less of you) off Piccadillly Circus and were ushered into the dimly lit ballroom which has been frequented in the past by the likes of Princess Margaret.

Amanda: Yeah I saw that on the site too – scared me into pulling out the maxi dress from the depths of my wardrobe.

Cesca: You're picturing the insides now aren't you? Yes. Fancy. Various well-dressed and go-getting people flitted about, supping at champagne and eating delicious canapés. The waiters must have been on double pay, or on double doses of something as they were ridiculously happy, dolling out treats and drinks and grinning like Cheshire Cats. We snatched up two glasses and hid in a corner. Sorry we snatched up two glasses and perused the room, considering our next move.

Amanda: Good save! Managed to spot the lovely Isobel from Hodder who has the brilliant job of

being Editor to some of the greatest women's fiction out there! (Jealous? Me?) Nah! So after being happy that I had actually recognised somebody I was raring to go…

Cesca: I thought it was a great idea to go and introduce myself to Sue Mongredien AKA Lucy Diamond, one of the short-listed authors, whose picture I had stared at earlier that day in the hope of recognising her. After tapping her on the shoulder and asking the question the women looked bemused. Needless to say her name was NOT Lucy Diamond (she wasn't even called Lucy), had never written a book and was one of the guests of the sponsors National Express.

Amanda: She was very nice about it though wasn't she! 🙂 Think you may have made her night!

Cesca: Fortunately everyone was descending the stairs and we were whisked along with the tide, eagerly scanning the room for more people we knew.

Amanda: I did get quite excitable at this point. It felt so fab descending the stairs with everyone though we didn't get an escort like the others did, shame.

Cesca: Jo Brand was on stage and we were both confident it was definitely her. She was a fabulous compere, ridculously rude, very warm and the perfect hostess for the occasion.

Amanda: Yeah, it felt a bit weird though that she kept apologising to the young children in attendance and then continued to swear like a trooper! Clearly there was no PG friendly version of her routine. Though it might have been interesting to see her try…

Cesca: We heard a little about the shortlisted entries and got to make excited 'sucking in our breath' noises at seeing Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham in the flesh.

Amanda: Haha, yeah those noises weren't even faked we actually were that excited! It was just so cool to see such a mix of people all on one stage together. Joanna Trollope too!

Cesca: The winner was announced (Helen Simonson, author of 'Major Pettigrew's Last Stand') and up she got to make a speech.

Amanda: That speech was brilliant. She's clearly a very witty and funny woman. She opened with “Well this has been a weird evening” and continued to say that she wished the award didn't exist but that she appreciated it nonetheless. After the earlier speech from Melissa Nathan's mum (and microphone holder dad!) we could all appreciate her comments. After the winner had finished her speech Jo Brand welcomed on stage the “losers” for their smaller awards, which they all graciously accepted from their respective judge. Then it was all over and the drinks and mingling began again.

Cesca: The evening took a wonderful twist and we found ourselves meeting the winner herself, hot off a plane from the States, and dragged her across to have her photo with us. The photographer got us to get VERY up close and personal and the poor woman will probably never forget the encounter.

Amanda: At least we could blame the photographer! Though I bet poor Helen was soon regretting her “yes” to the picture. Well maybe not immediately – maybe after picture 5… or 6… She was very gracious about the whole thing though and we had the pleasure of being introduced to her parents who were giddy with pride. Adorable!

Cesca: We then chatted to a range of lovely people from publishers to authors to PR gals. Katie Fforde and Kate Lace were also on hand for a photographic opportunity and everyone was very warm and welcoming.

Amanda: Kate Lace was even kind enough to show her love of Novelicious thanks to your fab sign! What a star! I had fun debating with her who had a bigger impact on children's literature – Phillip Pullman or Harry Potter…? And I'm contemplating asking Katie Fforde for lessons in Twitter – she seems to know more about it than I do!

Cesca: It was a fabulous evening, for a brilliant cause and we were all given the most wonderful memento of the evening, a collection of short stories, one very moving previously unpublished short from Melissa Nathan herself.

Amanda: And a story by her 8 year old son, Sam, which is really imaginative – clearly there's a new Nathan to watch out for! All proceeds of this little gem of a book go to the Melissa Nathan Foundation which helps families in crisis so not a bad read for many reasons!

Cesca: Thank you so much to the organisers for inviting Novelicious, it was an unforgettable night.

Amanda: Absolutely, I'm already looking forward to next year! Thanks!

About the Award

The Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance is the UK’s only literary award dedicated to comedy romance writing. The criteria for the Award were drawn up by bestselling writer Melissa Nathan, one of the leading comic romantic novelists of her generation, who died of cancer in 2006. The Award is a fitting tribute to Melissa, and as the winning novelist, Lisa Jewell said, when she won in 2008.

"You feel undervalued when you write the kind of fiction I write, so it's great to have this genre given its own night of appreciation and recognition. To win is just wonderful."

This sentiment is echoed by Sophie Kinsella, best- selling novelist and Judge of the Award.

"I'd like to show people that this prize is about what people love to read – not what they feel they ought to read. I think people look at the pastel jackets and the swirly writing on the cover and dismiss it because it's about love. But really – what's more important in life than love?"

The inaugural MNA was held in June 2007 and the winner was Marian Keyes. In 2008, the award was won by Lisa Jewell, in 2009 by Farahad Zama and in 2010 by Janet Skeslien Charles. This year, the judging panel featured writer and comedienne Jo Brand, mega-selling novelists Joanna Trollope OBE and Sophie Kinsella, actor and comedienne Morwenna Banks, and actor and television presenter Liza Tarbuck, Managing Director of National Express Coaches Andrews Cleaves, and Waitrose book buyer Freya Wright.

The other shortlisted novels were : Foursome, Jane Fallon (Penguin), Getting Over Mr Right, Chrissie Manby (Hodder), Obstacles to Young Love, David Nobbs (HarperCollins), Perfect Proposal, Katie Fforde (Random House),Sweet Temptation, Lucy Diamond (Pan)

Melissa Nathan Website

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