Colin Barrett, an Irish author, has been the only one from Ireland to make it to this year’s longlist for the prestigious Booker Prize, worth £50,000. Barrett, esteemed for his short stories, gained recognition for his debut novel, Wild Houses, along with two other inaugural novels. Paul Lynch, another Irish author, won the coveted prize last year for his book, Prophet Song.
Barrett’s Wild Houses, described as a spirited, humorously dark and exceptionally written depiction of disappointment and mishap in a tiny Irish town, has received praise from the judging panel. The other debut novels included in the longlist are Rita Bullwinkel’s Headshot and Yael van der Wouden’s The Safekeep, marking the first time a Dutch author has been included in the longlist.
Well-known figures in the list include Percival Everett, the writer of over 20 novels, who was earlier shortlisted in 2022 for his book, The Trees. One of his books, Erasure, was transformed into the film American Fiction. His current work, James, presents a novel perspective of Huckleberry Finn, narrated from Jim’s viewpoint, a runaway slave.
Sarah Perry, recognised for Enlightenment, achieved significant success with The Essex Serpent, later turned into a hit Apple TV+ series. Playground by Richard Powers also made the longlist; he previously earned a nomination for the 2018 Booker Prize for The Overstory which sold a million copies. Additionally, Rachel Kushner’s The Mars Room, nominated for Creation Lake, held the title for Time magazine’s top fiction book of 2018.
The longlist entails the following:
– Wild Houses by Colin Barrett
– Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
– James by Percival Everett.
The longlisting of numerous books, spanning from different regions worldwide, has been announced and is set to be evaluated by a panel of esteemed judges led by artist and writer, Edmund de Waal. Also in the judging panel are celebrated novelist Sara Collins, Guardian fiction editor Justine Jordan, writer and professor Yiyun Li, and musician, composer and producer Nitin Sawhney.
Some of the remarkable books picked up for consideration are ‘Orbital’ by British author Samantha Harvey, ‘Creation Lake’ by American writer Rachel Kushner, and ‘My Friends’ by British-Libyan Hisham Matar, all published by Jonathan Cape. ‘This Strange Eventful History’ by Canadian-American Claire Messud under Fleet, ‘Held’ by Canadian wordsmith Anne Michaels from Bloomsbury Publishing, and ‘Wandering Stars’ by American Tommy Orange under Harvill Secker are also on the longlist. Among others are ‘Enlightenment’ by Sarah Perry, ‘Playground’ by Richard Powers, ‘The Safekeep’ by Yael van der Wouden, and Charlotte Wood’s ‘Stone Yard Devotional’.
After pouring over 156 novels in seven months, De Waal expressed his elation with the distinguished longlist selection which echoes robust, global and emerging voices. He emphasised that the novels share a sense of necessity, evoking deep sensations and establishing a foothold in their hearts. The carefully selected books, he hopes, will deeply move others and occupy a significant position in their reading realm.
Spanning both time and geography, these novels delve into a rich tapestry of human life and experiences. They include volumes that subtly reveal their narratives and others that blaze brightly from the page. They penetrate the complexities of belonging, displacement, and revisiting. Spanning continents and generations, these books take us to a boxing ring in the U.S, a quaint town in Ireland, a secluded convent in Australia, and the underground countryside of France. One book explores the ocean depths, another ventures into outer space, while another tracks a comet. Importantly, these are not merely narratives related to issues but works of fiction that humanise ideas and elicit sincere empathy towards individuals and their challenging circumstances, which reflect the precarious nature of life.
Of course, these works do not adhere to a single tone or style. Fiction fulfills several roles – instills renewal, offers comfort, transports us from our lives and reintegrates us into our selves in a novel and connected manner. Additionally, it serves the primal function of entertaining the reader.
Commonly recurring themes include the ones of exile, displacement, identity, and belonging. The narrative ‘Stone Yard Devotional’ by Charlotte Wood portrays a woman deserting her life to find sanctuary in a secluded nunnery in New South Wales. Tommy Orange, the first nominated Native American author’s ‘Wandering Stars’, scrutinizes the tragic aftershocks of his community’s dislocation and forced assimilation. In ‘This Strange Eventful History’, Claire Messud narrates the saga of three generations of a Franco-Algerian family migrating worldwide. ‘My Friends’ by Hisham Matar follows the story of two Libyan students embroiled in a violent London protest.
In 2006, the British-Libyan Matar and Canadian-American Messud both appeared on the longlist (for their works ‘In the Country of Men’ and ‘The Emperor’s Children’ respectively), with Matar subsequently making it to the shortlist. Kushner and Powers were jointly shortlisted in 2018 for ‘The Mars Room’ and ‘The Overstory’. Powers has been longlisted before in 2011 for ‘Orfeo’, and later shortlisted in 2021 with ‘Bewilderment’. Samantha Harvey made it to the longlist back in 2009 with ‘The Wilderness’.
In his critique of Colin Barrett’s novel, Wild Houses, Kevin Power detailed the book’s engaging nature, maintaining that the text was a pleasure to devour with its compelling characters and convincing narrative. Despite the ostensible semblance to a crime caper, Power stressed that Wild Houses is far from being a parody or a satire, instead, it portrays a tender and moving worldview involving the solitary inhabitants located at the outskirts of a small town filled with unlawful activities.
Born in Canada, the 42-year-old Colin Barrett was raised near Ballina, County Mayo, a locale that significantly influences his pieces. His maiden short story compilation, Young Skins, premiered in 2013, and was honoured with the Guardian First Book Award, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, and the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. His sequel anthology, Homesickness, witnessed its publication in 2022. Apart from novels, Barrett also ventured into screenplays with Calm With Horses, a part of Young Skins, hitting the silver screen with Barry Keoghan lighting up the marquee.
Last year, four Irish writers got a nod in the longlist, but this year seems less glorious with only one making the cut. Works by Sally Rooney, Caoilinn Hughes, Kevin Barry, Niamh Mulvey, and Ferdia Lennon were serious contestants. Shortlisted authors stand to receive £2,500 and a specially bound version of their work come September 16th, when the six finalists would be announced. The victorious author, due to be revealed on November 12th in a London ceremony, garners a grand sum of £50,000 along with a trophy inspired by Iris Murdoch, a Dublin-native Booker Prize laureate.
Last year’s winner, Prophet Song penned by Paul Lynch, had experienced lukewarm sales before making the longlist, managing to sell just 4,000 hardback copies. However, post longlisting sales skyrocketed, moving over 100,000 hardback copies in the UK, above 90,000 in North America, and performed well in Ireland, Australia and India.
On the topic of this year’s longlist, judges reflected favourably on Wild Houses by Colin Barrett.
Two previous collections have established Barrett as a remarkable author who displays a mastery of both short stories and sentence structures. His first foray into novel writing, Wild Houses, further reinforces his inherent talent. Set in a quaint Irish town, the novel cleverly intertwines humour and darkness to recount a gripping tale of disappointment and mishap. The protagonist, 17-year-old Nicky, is portrayed as a reliable young girl with dreams of leaving her current life behind, which comes closer to reality when her boyfriend Doll gets entangled in local drug-related issues. Dev, an unlikely accomplice, further complicates the narrative. As the plot gradually unfolds, the audience discovers the links between the characters and the past events that have shaped them, blending a psychological exploration with an adrenaline-fuelled thriller. The interplay of violence and jest in the novel mirrors the harshness and humour in real life.
Rita Bullwinkel’s Headshot is a tenacious and gripping tale of a women’s boxing event in Nevada. Using a series of interconnected narratives, Bullwinkel skilfully pieces together a multi-dimensional story about diverse and determined characters, each with their unique histories and aspirations. By highlighting the tough physical nature of sports amidst honest, descriptive details, Bullwinkel elevates the novel to a deep exploration of identity, fate, familial ties, and the fleeting yet impactful nature of human existence. This unapologetic debut stands out from much of sports literature due to its depth.
Percival Everett’s James, a re-interpretive masterpiece, effectively immerses the readers in the horrific reality of slavery, balanced against a backdrop of enduring human resilience. With poetic prose of rich textures, Everett audaciously embarks on a historical investigation inspired by the classic Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The novel not only delves into a dark period in history but also pays homage to the endurance of human spirit. Accompanied by its impressive linguistic prowess and ethical urgency, James epitomises a commendable literary achievement that addresses history while anticipating a more enlightened future. This bolsters Everett’s rightful standing as a literary prodigy.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey highlights a gripping tale about a young girl’s dreams of leaving her hometown and the obstacles she faces along the way. Using interconnected narratives, Bullwinkel builds a story around diverse characters, each with their unique motivations and perspectives. James by Percival Everett, a revisionist piece, immerses readers in the harshness of slavery balanced against enduring human resilience. Samantha Harvey’s Orbital offers a profound exploration of identity, fate, and family dynamics.
Orbital, penned by Samantha Harvey, is a captivating novel offering an intimate yet panoramic view of the Earth’s beauty. The narrative provides insights into the experiences of six astronauts stationed at the International Space Station where they grapple with feelings of loss, solitude, and exhaustion brought on by their task. With an undercurrent moving from their limited personal space to the vast expanse of the cosmos, their recollections of a life left behind, and their concentration on their duties, Orbital is a tribute to our incredible planet. It’s also a touching recognition of the individual and shared worth of every human life.
Rachel Kushner gifts her audience with Creation Lake, a novel featuring Sadie Smith – an alias. Smith is an ex-FBI agent now working as a spy and is facing off against a group of eco-activists nestled in rural France. Painting a powerful character, Smith is fiercely intelligent, resolute, and always on the move. She delves into their leader’s secretive emails – a peculiar individual disconnecting from the modern world, residing in the region’s ancestral caves and nurturing intriguing theories about Neanderthals’ historical role. The novel’s allure lies in its crafty integration of present-day political and influential dynamics into a time-honoured narrative on human civilisation – a compelling and engaging read.
In My Friends, Hisham Matar recounts the journey of two Libyan friends who met at an Edinburgh university. Joining a protest outside the Libyan embassy in London, they were injured. The narrative is a potent depiction of their subsequent experience of displacement following the incident. The friends venture into a dangerous and uncertain existence, juxtaposing the concept and reality of a homeland. The novel is a profound, unsentimental contemplation on the essence of friendship and a deeply stirring account of forced exile’s repercussions. The brief yet profound language and the narrative’s emotional resonance were commendable.
This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud is yet another monumental creation.
The book commences in June 1940, with the historic fall of Paris to the Germans, a pivotal incident that sends shockwaves through people’s existence, much like many significant historical happenings. It tracks three generations of a Franco-Algerian clan as they trek the globe, from Algeria to countries like the US, Cuba, Canada, Argentina, Australia, and finally, France. This expansive novel is simultaneously embedded in each character’s emotional make-up, illustrating literature’s capacity to be vast and enduring.
Anne Michaels’ ‘Held’ starts off as a complex quick-paced novel and may initially seem daunting. Yet, every judge was enthralled by this exceptional piece from the author of ‘Fugitive Pieces’. Michaels, an accomplished poet, remains unyielding in expressing her perspective. She pens about war, distress, science, faith, and most notably, love and human bond; her backdrop is a century filled with bustling history. She connects her story fragments via theme and imagery instead of character and timeline, intense instants separated by vast intervals of space and time. Aptly for a novel about consciousness, it seems to modify and enhance your mentality. The reading experience is indeed unique.
Tommy Orange’s ‘Wandering Stars’ is an influential saga intertwining various character accounts, all wrestling with the burdens of history, identity, and trauma. Through masterful writing and skilfully portrayed views, Tommy Orange renders a striking depiction of the Native American plight – the sorrow of displacement, and the stoic resistance of those continuing ancestral traditions. The literature, transcending centuries, ponders on universal concepts of family, addiction, and the quest for acceptance in a society that often disregards its Indigenous inhabitants’ worth. ‘Wandering Stars’ is an extraordinary feat, a compelling literary work that commands recognition.
‘Enlightenment’ by Sarah Perry.
The novel “Enlightenment” astoundingly occupies time with its confident tempo encapsulating a blend of physical location – an Essex small town in the nineties – and a thrilling journey through stars, comets, belief, spectres, and amour. Focused on lead characters, a matured author and a local newspaper reporter, and a pastor’s 17-year-old daughter, it stitches together a project of considerable desire. A deeply enjoyable book, filled with a zest for intellectual life, it is luxuriously and pleasingly composed.
In “Playground” by Richard Powers, an upcoming vote on a seasteading initiative led by an unnamed American tycoon causes tensions between financial and ecological motivations on a Polynesian island. Additionally, possible dangers and benefits of artificial intelligence are examined. The book, embracing diverse topics such as oceanography, climate change, colonialism impacts, and lifelong friendships, is character-rich, spacious, and engrossing as it effectively intertwines these themes in a thrilling and complicated narrative. Powers’ talent for unmasking the enchantment and secrecy of mother nature is showcased in this.
The early 1960s Dutch backdrop of “The Safekeep” by Yael van der Wouden reels readers into a meticulously constructed world, picturing the solitude of a domicile where every utensil is accounted for. It features Isa, a reserved character who is preserving this heritage. However, when Isa’s brother introduces his girlfriend Eva to their home, a shift in dynamics occurs; possession boundaries are challenged, and past events start to surface. This first novel, adored for its exceptional portrayal of fixation, traces a poignant journey of grief and recovery in an indelible manner.
The “Stone Yard Devotional” by Charlotte Wood is another offering for the readers.
From time to time, a guest morphs into a dweller, turning a transient refuge into a lasting sanctuary. This is the fate of the protagonist in ‘Stone Yard Devotional’, a woman who appears to have firm ties to the world yet opts for a drastic shift in her life and establishes herself in a rural Australian monastery. But, no refuge can stay completely invincible. Her past resurfaces in the shape of the skeletal remains of an old friend showing up at her door, while the present-day concerns of a worldwide health crisis and a regional infestation of mice and rats command her attention. The novel left the reviewers both exhilarated and spooked; this is a book we’re eager to share with the readership.