It is here! The longest of sixteen books which I mentioned last month (when I mentioned blowing off the cobwebs on this blog, cough – more on that below) have been whittled down to six fantastic titles which are…
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
I have made a video talking about the shortlist below (I might have had a little prewarning, on the promise of my lips being firmly sealed until now) and my thoughts on the title which I will embed below. However if you want more thoughts of mine on the longlist – and the thoughts of my mother – you can find a video of that here.
Now, as I mentioned in that last post a few weeks ago, I would like to use the Women’s Prize – which has been a favourite prize of mine for as long as this blog has been going – and I have a plan. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing my more detailed thoughts on the shortlisted books AND backdating some posts on the longlisted titles that didn’t make the shortlist. Including one, or maybe two, that I decided not to finish. Eek. More of that in the weeks to come.
So, what do you all make of the shortlist? Which have you read and what did you think? Does this list match the selection of books you would have shortlisted?
Savidge Reads 
Surprised to see both Circe and Silence of the Girls on there – thought they’d only find room for one mythic rewrite.
My sister the serial killer is the only one already on my to read pile!
Thanks for bringing back your blog! I keep up with all your videos, but a blog adds a lot.
I was surprised to see that I’ve read 3 of the books on the list: My Sister the Serial Killer, Milkman, and An American Marriage. My tastes tend to be a bit less literary than that of award committees. I liked all three of them but it took me a loooong time to get into Milkman. My favorite was probably An American Marriage.