Winning formula … EL James said she was
overwhelmed to learn that Fifty Shades of Grey had been named Specsavers book of
the year. Photograph: Philippa Cotton
The Booker
judges went for Hilary Mantel, the Costa
panel for Andrew Miller and the Orange
team for Madeline Miller. But now the general public have spoken, and
overwhelmingly voted for Fifty Shades of Grey as
their book of 2012.
EL James's erotic fiction title took more than
75% of the public vote in the competition to be named the Specsavers book of the
year. The 10
category winners of the National Book Awards were all up for the prize,
including Clare Balding, winner of the autobiography prize, Mantel, named author
of the year, Miranda Hart, winner of the non-fiction category, and Lee Child,
who took the crime book of the year award.
Prize organisers said it
was "no surprise" that Fifty Shades of
Grey won the public vote, given its domination of charts and headlines since
its release. To date, the novel has sold more than 6m copies in the UK, and is
the country's bestselling book since records began.
James said learning of her win was "really quite overwhelming".
"Thank you so much for this wonderful award," said the author. "I am truly honoured. I have to thank the readers and the retailers for making Fifty Shades of Grey the success it has become."
Previous winners of the
book of the year award include Caitlin Moran, for her memoir/manifesto How to Be
a Woman, and David Nicholls for the
romantic novel One Day.
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