Award-winners, Blockbusters and Newcomers: 'Innovative and Exciting' 2021 Glass Bell Shortlist Spans Continents, Centuries and the Canon
Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award
2021 Shortlist Announced
A Booker-longlisted exploration of the Israel-Palestine conflict; the second novel from the Costa-winning Stuart Turton and a British Book Award-shortlisted story of a young Nigerian girl’s struggle for an education are amongst the six titles shortlisted for the 2021 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, announced today (Thursday 5th August).
The Goldsboro Books Glass Bell 2021 shortlist:
The Girl With the Louding Voice - Abi Daré (Sceptre)
The Court of Miracles - Kester Grant (Harper Voyager)
Eight Detectives - Alex Pavesi (Michael Joseph)
Apeirogon - Colum McCann (Bloomsbury)
The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton (Bloomsbury Raven)
People of Abandoned Character - Clare Whitfield (Head of Zeus)
Critically acclaimed novelist Colum McCann leads the shortlist for his powerful seventh novel Apeirogon, which was longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. Also shortlisted is The Devil and the Dark Water, the highly anticipated second novel from Stuart Turton, whose debut The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was longlisted for the 2019 Glass Bell, as well as winning the Costa First Novel Award
They are accompanied by four celebrated debut novels across a range of genres: Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi, acclaimed as an inventive and exciting reworking of the detective novel; The Girl with the Louding Voice, Abi Daré’s New York Times bestseller about a young Nigerian housegirl fighting for her freedom and her education; People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield, a historical thriller about a woman who suspects that her husband could be Jack the Ripper; and The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant, a fantastical reimagining of the French Revolution featuring the characters of Les Misérables.
David Headley, Goldsboro Books co-founder and MD, and founder of the Glass Bell, says: “For five years now, the Glass Bell Award has sought to celebrate the best of contemporary fiction, regardless of genre or stage of the author’s career, and this year is no exception. The 2021 shortlist may be the most innovative and outward-looking yet, with its international focus and the way it plays with the literary canon. Our judging discussions are always lively, but with these powerful literary novels, imaginative historical thrillers, whirlwind bestsellers – and four superb debuts which deserved more attention in a very busy year, I’m sure we’ll all have a lot to say this year!”
Judged by David and his team at Goldsboro Books, the Glass Bell is awarded annually to a compelling novel, of any genre – from romance and thrillers, to historical, speculative and literary fiction – with brilliant characterisation and a distinct voice that is confidently written and assuredly realised. The winner, who will be announced on Thursday 30th September, wins £2,000 and a beautiful, handmade glass bell.
Last year, the American novelist Taylor Jenkins Reid was awarded the Glass Bell for her ‘immersive’ and ‘captivating’ Daisy Jones and the Six, which tells the story of the rise and fall of a fictional 70s rock band. Previous winners are Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave, The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne and VOX by Christina Dalcher.
For further information, and to join the conversation please visit:
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ENDS
Notes to editors
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré (Sceptre)
Meet Adunni, a teenage girl born into a rural Nigerian village. Aged fourteen, she is a commodity, a wife, a servant, but she is also smart, funny, curious, with a spirit and joy infectious to those around her. And despite her situation going from bad to worse, she has a plan to escape: she will find her ‘louding voice’ and get her education, so that she can speak up for herself - and all the girls who came before her. As she turns enemies into friends and superiors into aides, Adunni will take you with her on a heart-breaking but inspiring journey from a small village to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, and show you that no matter the situation, there is always some joy to be found.
Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and has lived in the UK for 18 years. She studied law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an M.Sc. in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University. Keen to improve her writing, Abi completed an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck University of London, achieving a Distinction. Her novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice won The Bath Novel Award in 2018 and was selected as a finalist in The Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition in 2018. Abi lives in Essex with her husband and two children.
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant (HarperVoyager)
The French Revolution of 1828 has failed, and Paris is in mourning. The wretched of the city have gathered into guilds of thieves, assassins and worse, to form the Court of Miracles. When Eponine’s sister is sold into the Guild of Flesh, both their fates are sealed. The only chance Eponine has of rescuing her is to join the Miracle Court and steal back what was taken. But to do that she’ll have to become the greatest thief the city has ever known…
Kester Grant is a British-Mauritian writer. She was born in London, and grew up between the UK, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the tropical island paradise of Mauritius. As a wanton nomad she and her husband are unsure of which country they currently reside but they can generally be found surrounded by their fiendish pack of cats and dogs. The Court of Miracles is her first novel.
Apeirogon by Colum McCann (Bloomsbury)
Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin live near one another – yet they exist worlds apart. Rami is Israeli. Bassam is Palestinian. Rami’s license plate is yellow. Bassam’s license plate is green. It takes Rami fifteen minutes to drive to the West Bank. The same journey for Bassam takes an hour and a half. Both men have lost their daughters. Rami’s thirteen-year-old girl Smadar was killed by a suicide bomber while out shopping with her friends. Bassam’s ten- year-old daughter Abir was shot and killed by a member of the border police outside her school. There was a candy bracelet in her pocket she hadn’t had time to eat yet. The men become the best of friends.
Colum McCann is the author of seven novels and three collections of stories. His sixth novel TransAtlantic, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013, and his fifth, Let the Great World Spin, won the National Book Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and was a New York Times bestseller. His work has been published in forty languages and has received international honours, including a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, election to the Irish arts academy and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2010 Best Foreign Novel Award in China and an Oscar nomination. He is the co-founder of the non-profit global story exchange organisation, Narrative 4, and he teaches at the MFA program in Hunter College. He was born in Dublin and lives in New York.
Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi (Michael Joseph)
All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, an eccentric but brilliant professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out – and wrote a set of seven stories to demonstrate them. Soon after, Grant disappeared to live on an isolated Mediterranean island.
No one knows why he left. He never came home.
Thirty years later, Julia Hart, a smart, ambitious young editor, knocks on his door. Grant’s work is being republished, and together the two of them must revisit those old stories. But as she reads the sharp, twisting tales, Julia is unsettled to realise that there are things that don’t make sense: deliberate inconsistencies which Grant is unable – or unwilling – to explain. Might they be a trail of clues? And if so, do they lead towards the topic on which Grant is most evasive: the truth about what happened thirty years before? If Julia wants answers, she must triumph in a battle of wits with a dangerously clever adversary. But she must tread carefully: she knows there’s a mystery, but she doesn’t yet realise there’s already been a murder…
Alex Pavesi is a former Waterstones bookseller and has studied mathematics to PhD level. He is currently working as a software engineer in London. Eight Detectives is his first novel.
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (Bloomsbury Raven)
It ’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported from the Dutch East Indies to Amsterdam, where he is facing trial and execution for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent, while also on board are Sara Wessel, a noble woman with a secret, and her husband, the governor general of Batavia.
But no sooner is their ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A strange symbol appears on the sail. A dead leper stalks the decks. Livestock are slaughtered in the night. And then the passengers hear a terrible voice whispering to them in the darkness, promising them three unholy miracles. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes? With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent and Sara can solve a mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board…
Stuart Turton’s debut novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, won the 2018 Costa First Novel Award and the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Novel, and was shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards and the British Book Awards Debut of the Year. A Sunday Times bestseller it has been translated into over thirty languages and is being adapted as a series for Netflix. Turton’s second novel The Devil and the Dark Water won the 2020 Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Fiction, was selected for the BBC Radio 2 Bookclub and BBC Two Between the Covers programme and was longlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger award. It was chosen as a best book of the year by The Guardian, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, iPaper, Financial Times, Daily Express and Independent. Stuart lives near London with his wife and daughter.
People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield (Head of Zeus)
London, 1888. Susannah rushes into marriage to a young and wealthy surgeon. After a passionate honeymoon, she returns home with her new husband wrapped around her little finger. But then everything changes. His behaviour becomes increasingly volatile and violent. He stays out all night, returning home bloodied and full of secrets. Lonely and frustrated, Susannah starts following the gruesome reports of a spate of murders in Whitechapel. But as the killings continue, her mind takes her down the darkest path imaginable. Every time he stays out late, another victim is found dead. Is it coincidence? Or is her husband the man the papers call Jack the Ripper?
Clare Whitfield is a UK-based writer living in a suburb where the main cultural landmark is a home store/Starbucks combo. She is the wife of a tattoo artist, mother of a small benign dictator and relies on a black Labrador for emotional stability. She has been a dancer, copywriter, amateur fire breather, buyer and mediocre weightlifter. People of Abandoned Character is her first 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 glass bell. The jury of ten consists of team members from Goldsboro Books. 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), Christina Dalcher for VOX (HQ) and Taylor Jenkins Reid for Daisy Jones and the Six (Cornerstone).
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 signed copies of The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, who of course turned out to be none other than J.K. Rowling.