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book talk with Katie Allen   - The Bookseller  - First Edition

It is rare that a book makes the evening news, especially one first published 40 years ago, but the late J G Farrell's Troubles (Phoenix) was widely discussed on TV and radio last night (19th May). Crowned the winner of the Lost Man Booker prize, it's the second time Farrell has won the Booker (his The Siege of Krishnapur won in 1973).

The accolade was set up to honour titles published in 1970 which missed out on consideration when the rules were changed. Troubles won 37% of the public vote and over the period was the bestselling title of a six-strong shortlist which included Muriel Spark and Nina Bawden.

An award last night too for Andrea Gillies, whose account of caring for her mother-in-law through dementia, Keeper (Short Books), took home the Orwell Prize for political writing in the book category. Keeper was also awarded the Wellcome Trust Book Prize last year.


And more success for another late author: Steig Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Quercus) has become the 21st novel of the 21st century to sell more than one million copies in the UK: the first instalment in the Millennium Trilogy sold 24,780 copies across all editions last week, taking its total sales to date into seven figures, according to Nielsen BookScan. It was extra good news for Quercus; the publisher won the Nielsen Marketing Campaign of the Year for the title at the Bookseller Industry Awards on Monday (17th May).

Katie Allen is
The Bookseller's media editor.