This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
All the shortlisted titles for the Women’s Prize for Fiction
have now been reviewed here at Novelicious and with the winner set to be
announced tomorrow (Wednesday 5th June), we look at what the team
made of those six books vying for the big win.
Sadly, it didn’t look good for Zadie Smith’s NW, a muddled story that lacked conclusion according to our review. Jennifer explained, ‘There didn’t seem to be much point to the story as a whole, as though we were seeing a short glimpse into three individual’s lives but without any real purpose.’
The book many may feel is odds on to take the crown (no pun intended) is Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel – a woman who can do no wrong this year it seems (unless she’s talking about our princess that is!). With a decent 7/10 rating, our Debs said ‘it held fewer surprises or intrigue for me. However, the writing is undoubtedly superb’.
Zoe came close to awarding Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple top marks but it just missed out, coming in at 9/10. Zoe was full of praise though for the 'refreshingly different' story, calling it 'hilarious and touching' with 'witty prose'.
Our top choices go to Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and May We Be Forgiven by A. M. Homes – all of which scored a highly coveted Novelicious 10/10 rating. Kay thought Flight Behaviour was ‘an engaging, thought-provoking, heart-warming story’, adding that ‘it isn’t often that I encounter a novel where I would not change a single thing…’. Cressida, already a fan of Kate Atkinson’s writing, dubbed Life After Life ‘extraordinary’, adding that ‘it is beautiful and sad and funny, imaginative and compelling. It is overflowing with life’. Kelly said May We Be Forgiven was ‘life in a book… and I love it.’
So, unsurprisingly, there was high praise for many of this year's shortlisters. Here at Novelicious we're rooting for Barbara Kingsolver, Kate Atkinson and A. M. Homes. Good luck ladies!