Most diverse Booker Prize shortlist? Women, writers of colour and debut novels dominate

The Booker Prize for Fiction produced a shocker of a shortlist this year, passing over the usual heavyweights for what has been hailed as its most diverse final slate to date.

All six writers on the shortlist are first-time nominees for the prestigious £50,000 (S$88,800) award. Women form the majority, as do writers of colour.

The most prominent among them is Tsitsi Dangarembga, the first black Zimbabwean woman to publish a novel in English. Only one other, Ethiopian-American Maaza Mengiste - who, like Dangarembga, writes about forgotten histories and overlooked lives in Africa - has published another novel.

The remaining four are debut novelists like Brandon Taylor, whose book Real Life delves into a black student's experiences on a mostly white American university campus.

They edged out longlist favourites like two-time Booker winner Hilary Mantel, who had been tipped to score a record hat trick with The Mirror And The Light, the last book in her historical Cromwell trilogy.

Who will win the prize on Nov 19?

In a two-part series, The Straits Times reviews the six books on the shortlist and speaks to four authors on it.

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Bestsellers

FICTION

1. (1) The Book Of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

2. (2) Before The Coffee Gets Cold: Tales From The Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

3. (-) Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

4. (10) Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

5. (-) The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

6. (5) Sex And Vanity by Kevin Kwan

7. (2) Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

7. (4) China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

8. (6) Dune by Frank Herbert

8. (9) To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars by Christopher Paolini

9. (7) The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

10. (-) Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

1. (1) Surrounded By Idiots by Thomas Erikson

2. (3) Love For Imperfect Things by Haemin Sunim

3. (2) The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

4. (4) Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty

5. (-) Surrounded By Psychopaths by Thomas Erikson

6. (7) Money Smart: Own Your Financial Destiny by Lorna Tan

7. (5) Talking To Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

8. (8) Finding Chika by Mitch Albom

9. (-) The Tyranny Of Merit by Michael J. Sandel

10. (9) Words Of Wisdom by Hsing Yun

1. (2) The Trials Of Apollo #5: The Tower Of Nero by Rick Riordan

2. (1) Dog Man #9: Grime And Punishment by Dav Pilkey

3. (8) A Tale Of Magic #2: A Tale Of Witchcraft by Chris Colfer

4. (4) Geronimo Stilton And The Kingdom Of Fantasy #13: The Battle For Crystal Castle by Geronimo Stilton

5. (5) Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure by Jeff Kinney

6. (3) National Geographic Kids Almanac 2021 by National Geographic

7. (7) Dog Man #8: Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey

8. (6) Geronimo Stilton #76 Superstore Surprise by Geronimo Stilton

9. (-) Pokemon Super Deluxe Essential Handbook by Scholastic

10. (-) Fazbear Frights #5: Bunny Call by Scott Cawthon, Andrea Waggener and Elley Cooper