US author Barbara Kingsolver won the Orange Prize for Fiction on Wednesday for The Lacuna, chosen from a shortlist of books by six female writers that included Booker Prize winner Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
Daisy Goodwin, chair of the judges, praised The Lacuna’s “breathtaking scale and shattering moments of poignancy.”
“It wasn’t a unanimous decision in the sense that we all said this was the winner, but I think it was fashionably consensual in that we all listened to each other’s point of view,” she said. “We decided to go for the book which aroused the most passion in the most people rather than settle for everyone’s second choice.”
The Independent newspaper’s reviewer said The Lacuna was “the first book in a long time that made me swap my bike for public transport, just so I could keep reading.”
The story centers around Harrison Shepherd, who follows his mother from household to household as she chases rich Mexican men and who comes into contact with real historical figures like the artist Frida Kahlo and Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.
The narrative crosses between Mexico and the US and comes to the reader in the form of memoirs, letters and press cuttings kept by Shepherd’s stenographer despite his wish that they be burned.
“Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach — the lacuna — between truth and public presumption,” the US publisher said.
Kingsolver was one of three US authors nominated for the annual prize, which comes with a check for £30,000 (US$44,000).
The other two were Attica Locke (Black Water Rising) and Lorrie Moore (A Gate at the Stairs), who were joined by Britons Mantel and Rosie Alison (The Very Thought of You) as well as Monique Roffey, of British and Trinidadian descent, with The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. The prize, in its 15th year, honors the best novel of the year written in English by a woman. Previous winners include Marilynne Robinson for Home (last year), Rose Tremain for The Road Home (2008) and Zadie Smith for On Beauty (2006).
The Orange Prize has been criticized for honoring only women, but many figures in the publishing world defend the idea.
“It is widely recognized that women are far more willing to read books by both sexes than men, leaving too many talented female authors under-appreciated,” said Jonathan Ruppin of Foyles bookshop, commenting on the prize. “The Orange Prize really does help address the likelihood that there are quite a number of female writers, especially in Britain, who would be considered amongst the first rank of contemporary authors if they were men.”
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS