DEBUTS, BESTSELLERS AND A BOOKER WINNER: ALL-FEMALE SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2020 GOLDSBORO BOOKS GLASS BELL AWARD
A Booker-winning story of intergenerational black womanhood, a serial boyfriend killer thriller, a historical novel about the slave trade, a fantastical tale of a secret library, a post-war ghost story and a tale of rock and roll excess are in contention for the 2020 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, announced today (Monday, 11th May).
2020 Shortlist
My Sister the Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton)
The Lost Ones Anita Frank (HQ)
Daisy Jones and the Six Taylor Jenkins Reid (Cornerstone)
The Starless Sea Erin Morgenstern (Harvill Secker)
Blood & Sugar Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
Bernardine Evaristo and New York Times #1 bestseller Erin Morgenstern have both made the shortlist – Evaristo for her awardwinning Girl, Woman, Other, an exploration of what it means to be a black British woman, and Morgenstern for her long-awaited second book The Starless Sea, an enchanting and immersive fantasy novel.
They are accompanied by three critically acclaimed debuts, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s darkly comic My Sister, the Serial Killer, about a woman who must cover up her younger sister’s habit of killing her boyfriends; Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, a historical thriller about the horrors of the slave trade; and the haunting and beguiling ghost story The Lost Ones by Anita Frank.
Rounding off the list is the critically acclaimed Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, written as the fictionalised oral history of a 1970s rock and roll band called The Six.
David Headley, Goldsboro Books co-founder and MD, and founder of the Glass Bell, says: ‘Losing yourself in an incredible story is one of the greatest comforts available to us in these trying times – and each of these stories construct very different but equally immersive worlds for readers to inhabit. This shortlist highlights six of the best writers of fiction around today – who all happen to be women! I’m looking forward to our judging discussions – there’s so much to be said about each one of these remarkable novels, and choosing a winner will be difficult but very rewarding.’
Judged by David and his team at the bookshop, the prize rewards ‘compelling storytelling with brilliant characterisation and a distinct voice that is confidently written and assuredly realised’ in all genres. The winner — announced on Thursday, 2nd July — will be awarded £2,000 and a beautiful, handmade, engraved glass bell.
For further information, and to join the conversation please visit: www.goldsborobooks.com | twitter. com/GoldsboroBooks #GlassBell | facebook.com/GoldsboroBooks
Notes to editors
About the shortlist
My Sister, the Serial Killer
Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This is the third boyfriend Ayoola has dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the fit doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other...
Oyinkan Braithwaite is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University. Following her degree, she worked as an assistant editor at Kachifo and has been freelancing as a writer and editor since. She has had short stories published in anthologies and has also self-published work. In 2014, she was shortlisted as a top ten spoken word artist in the Eko Poetry Slam. Her debut My Sister, the Serial Killer was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2019. It has also been shortlisted for a British Book Award.
Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton)
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters, artists, bankers, teachers, cleaners, housewives, at various stages of womanhood, from adolescence to old age, on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. Each one is looking for something – a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope…
Bernardine Evaristo is the Anglo-Nigerian award-winning author of several books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora: past, present, real, imagined. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other won the Booker Prize in 2019. Her writing also spans short fiction, reviews, essays, drama and writing for BBC radio. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature. She was made an MBE in 2009. As a literary activist for inclusion Bernardine has founded a number of successful initiatives, including Spread the Word writer development agency (1995-ongoing); the Complete Works mentoring scheme for poets of colour (2007-2017) and the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (2012-ongoing)
The Lost Ones
Anita Frank (HQ)
Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion. Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house. Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side… In the classic tradition of The Woman in Black, Anita Frank weaves a spellbinding debut of family tragedy, loss and redemption.
A farmer’s daughter from Shropshire, Anita Frank studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia before moving to London to work in media analysis and communications. She left paid employment to become a stay-at-home mum when she had the first of her three children. Anita now lives in Berkshire with her husband, her three children, a fluffy cat with an attitude, and a bonkers Welsh Springer Spaniel.
Daisy Jones and the Six
Taylor Jenkins Reid (Cornerstone)
For a while, Daisy Jones and the Six were everywhere. Their albums were on every turntable, they sold out arenas, their sound defined an era. And then, on July 12 1979, they split. Nobody ever knew why. Until now. From the early days to the drug-fuelled nights, this is an all-consuming retelling of ambition and passion that made Daisy Jones and the Six and the jealousies and rivalries that broke them. It was a time of sexual tension, tough decisions and missed opportunities. And while this aims to be a true story, everyone remembers the truth differently. The one thing everyone knows, is that from the moment Daisy Jones sauntered, barefoot, on to the stage at the Whisky, the band were irrevocably changed. Daisy had no interest in being somebody else’s muse. She was going to be the somebody and she lit a fire in everyone around her. But making music is never just about the music. And sometimes it can be hard to tell where the sound stops and feelings begin.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of six novels. She is a full-time film and television writer in addition to prolific novelist. Some of which, include The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017), One True Loves (2016), Maybe in Another Life (2015) and After I Do. (2014). She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex, and her dog, Rabbit.
The Starless Sea
Erin Morgenstern (Harvill Secker)
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a strange book hidden in the library stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues – a bee, a key and a sword – that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians - it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetlysoaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose - in both the mysterious book and in his own life.
Erin Morgenstern is the author of The Night Circus, a number-one national best seller that has been sold around the world and translated into thirty-seven languages. She has a degree in theater from Smith College and lives in Massachusetts.
Blood & Sugar
Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock – horribly tortured and branded with a slaver’s mark. Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham - a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career - is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been about to expose a secret that he believed could cause irreparable damage to the British slaving industry. He’d said people were trying to kill him, and now he is missing.
To discover what happened to Tad, Harry is forced to pick up the threads of his friend’s investigation, delving into the heart of the conspiracy Tad had unearthed. His investigation will threaten his political prospects, his family’s happiness, and force a reckoning with his past, risking the revelation of secrets that have the power to destroy him. And that is only if he can survive the mortal dangers awaiting him in Deptford…
Laura Shepherd-Robinson worked in politics for nearly twenty years before re-entering normal life to complete an MA in Creative Writing at City University. Blood & Sugar, her first novel, won the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, and a Guardian and Telegraph novel of the year. It was also shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and the Sapere Historical Dagger; and the Amazon Publishing/ Capital Crime Best Debut Novel.
About The Glass Bell Award
Launched in 2017, the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award is awarded annually to an outstanding work of contemporary fiction, rewarding quality storytelling in any genre. The winner of the Glass Bell will receive £2,000 in prize money, and a handmade, engraved glass bell. The jury of ten consists of team members from Goldsboro Books, DHH Literary Agency and The Dome Press. There is no fee, or limit to the number of books that a publisher may submit, allowing both established and debut authors a chance to win. Previous winners are Chris Cleave, for Everyone Brave is Forgiven (Sceptre), John Boyne for The Heart’s Invisible Furies (Transworld) and Christina Dalcher for VOX (HQ).
About Goldsboro Books
Goldsboro Books is an independent bookshop, based in central London, specialising in signed first edition books. Providing an expert, knowledgeable team and a carefully curated range is at the heart of the business, delivering the best book-buying experience for every customer. Goldsboro Books aims to interest and inspire book lovers, readers and collectors and provide the finest quality signed books in the world. Goldsboro Books was founded in 1999 by two friends and book collectors David Headley and Daniel Gedeon. Their reputation for spotting quality books early on, an expert eye on the future collectibles, along with enthusiasm and passion for bookselling excellence has grown with the business and Goldsboro Books has become a world-famous and much admired bookshop. Their global reputation grew in 2013 when they were the only bookshop in the world to have signedcopies of The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, who of course turned out to be none other than J.K. Rowling.
