Monday 11 June 2018

Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018

Kamila Shamsie has won the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction with her seventh novel Home Fire.

Home Fire follows three orphaned Muslim siblings, elder sister Isma and twins Aneeka and Parvaiz. Parvaiz decides to join ISIS after discovering that his absent father died en route to Guantánamo. When Aneeka meets Eamonn, son of the British Muslim home secretary, the lives of the two families become inextricably, devastatingly entwined.

The judges said “This was a dazzling shortlist, it had depth and richness and variety. We were forcibly struck by the quality of the prose. Each book had its champions. In the end we chose the book which we felt spoke for our times. Home Fire is about identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics. And it sustains mastery of its themes and its form. It is a remarkable book which we passionately recommend.”

Previously known as The Orange prize and The Baileys prize, the winner receives £30,000 and the ‘Bessie’, a limited edition bronze figurine.

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