A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Irish writer beats Donna Tartt's 771-page opus The Goldfinch to take award
Eimear McBride's novel is described by Helen Fraser, the chair of the Baileys judging panel, as 'utterly engaging, readable, unputdownable'. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
The Irish writer Eimear McBride has won the Baileys book prize for her first novel, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, beating bookie's favourite Donna Tartt's gigantic third novel, The Goldfinch.
Although Tartt was tipped from the start for her 771-pager, it was McBride's dark family tale, written in the hurtling, comma-free voice of an unnamed narrator, that won over the judges of the women's prize for fiction, formerly the Orange prize.
The chair of the judging panel, Helen Fraser, a former managing director of Penguin Books, said: "This has been a fantastic year for women's fiction, as the quality of both the long and shortlist made clear, and I think what has emerged as the worthy winner is a really original new voice."
McBride was hailed as "that old-fashioned thing, a genius" by fellow Irish novelist Anne Enright. Her story of a girl's life in the shadow of sexual abuse and the brain tumour of a beloved brother took six months to write and many years to get published.
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Although Tartt was tipped from the start for her 771-pager, it was McBride's dark family tale, written in the hurtling, comma-free voice of an unnamed narrator, that won over the judges of the women's prize for fiction, formerly the Orange prize.
The chair of the judging panel, Helen Fraser, a former managing director of Penguin Books, said: "This has been a fantastic year for women's fiction, as the quality of both the long and shortlist made clear, and I think what has emerged as the worthy winner is a really original new voice."
McBride was hailed as "that old-fashioned thing, a genius" by fellow Irish novelist Anne Enright. Her story of a girl's life in the shadow of sexual abuse and the brain tumour of a beloved brother took six months to write and many years to get published.
More
- BBC News - 4 hours ago
- Washington Post (blog) - 4 hours ago
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