‘Reading in lockdown fostered a powerful sense of connection with the books, and of shared enterprise among the judges. It’s particularly resonant during the pandemic to note that all of these books have important things to say about the nature of community, from the tiny and secluded to the unmeasurable expanse of cyberspace.’ Many examine intimate relationships placed under stress, and through them meditate on ideas of freedom and obligation, or on what makes us human.
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Many of them consider how people grapple with the past - whether personal experiences of grief or dislocation or the historical legacies of enslavement, apartheid, and civil war. ‘One thing that unites these books is their power to absorb the reader in an unusual story, and to do so in an artful, distinctive voice. Light Perpetual, written by Francis Spufford published by Faber.Great Circle, written by Maggie Shipstead published by Doubleday, Transworld Publishers, PRH.China Room, written by Sunjeev Sahota published by Harvill Secker, Vintage, PRH.Bewilderment, written by Richard Powers published by Heinemann Hutchinson, PRH.The Fortune Men, written by Nadifa Mohamed published by Viking, Penguin General, PRH.No One is Talking About This, written by Patricia Lockwood published by Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing.A Town Called Solace, written by Mary Lawson published by Chatto & Windus, Vintage, PRH.An Island, written by Karen Jennings published by Holland House Books.Klara and the Sun, written by Kazuo Ishiguro published by Faber.
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The Sweetness of Water, written by Nathan Harris published by Tinder Press, Headline, Hachette Book Group.
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The Promise, written by Damon Galgut published by Chatto & Windus, Vintage, PRH.Second Place, written by Rachel Cusk published by Faber.A Passage North, written by Anuk Arudpragasam published by Granta Books, Granta Publications.