Here it is, the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018 longlist. Initial thoughts are that I’m very excited. This is a great list. Two of my favourite books of last year are there – When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy and Elmet by Fiona Mozley – and one of my favourites so far this year – Sight by Jessie Greengrass. One of my all-time favourite writers, Nicola Barker, makes the longlist for the first time with her twelfth novel H(A)PPY. I haven’t read it yet because I’ve been wanting time to sit and savour it, which never happens, so I’m delighted to have to make that time now. The book and writer I hadn’t heard of is Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig. I love that this list always produces at least one new to me writer. The other thing that’s really pleasing is that seven of the sixteen writers are women of colour, by far the highest number we’ve ever seen from this prize and about time too.
Here’s the list in full. I’ve linked to my reviews of the four I’ve already covered and will return to this page to link the rest as I work my way through the rest of the list.
H(A)PPY – Nicola Barker
The Idiot – Elif Batuman
Three Things About Elsie – Joanna Cannon
Miss Burma – Charmaine Craig
Manhattan Beach – Jennifer Egan
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – Imogen Hermes Gower
Sight – Jessie Greengrass
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife – Meena Kandasamy
Elmet – Fiona Mozley
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Arundhati Roy
See What I Have Done – Sarah Schmidt
A Boy in Winter – Rachel Seiffert
Home Fire – Kamila Shamsie
The Trick to Time – Kit de Waal
Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward
The Writes of Womxn 