Back in September, the Booker Prize shortlist was announced for 2023, and out of the six books selected, three of them are written by men named Paul. Is this a Paul conspiracy? Some sort of literary world coup? No, but they've certainly showed up in numbers... a tactic that appears to have worked for one of them.
In a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate, London on November 26, the winner of the 2023 Booker Prize was announced, with Paul Lynch taking home the prize for Prophet Song.
Speaking to his win, Lynch said: "“It is with immense pleasure that I bring the Booker home to Ireland... I had a moment on holiday in Sicily many years ago where I had this flash of recognition, I knew that I needed to write, and that was the direction my life had to take. I made that decision that day to just swerve, and I swerved. And I’m bloody glad I did.”
Lynch's winning novel is set in Dublin, in a dystopic cultural climate that is ruled by a right-wing ideology. The Prize's judging chair, Esi Edugyan, said the book "captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment". The decision wasn't unanimous, and took around six hours to come to a conclusion.
Meanwhile, it is the first time any of these authors have been shortlisted for the Prize, and for two – this is their debut. Of the six finalists, two are Irish, another two are American, one Canadian, and only one British author. They were selected by a panel of five judges; Adjoa Andoh – who you may recognised from her time on Bridgerton, Mary Jean Chan, James Shapiro, Esi Edugyan, and Robert Webb.
Speaking of the 2023 shortlisted books, the judges said: "Although full of hope, humour and humanity, the books address many of 2023’s most pressing concerns: climate change, immigration, financial hardship, the persecution of minorities, political extremism and the erosion of personal freedoms. They feature characters in search of peace and belonging or lamenting lost loves. There are books that are grounded in modern reality, that shed light on shameful episodes in history and which imagine a terrifying future."
With the ceremony in our rear view mirror, it's not too late to read your way through the shortlisted books. Find a brief synopsis of each book, below.
Study for Obedience, Sarah Bernstein
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A promising young writer, Canadian author Sarah Bernstein's submission to the canon of post Me Too literature is shrewdly observed, eerie and familiar. Set in an undisclosed northern country, the nameless narrator drops everything to serve as a maid to her newly divorced older brother. Their relationship is fraught and the power dynamic uneven, and when a slate of local environmental disturbances are attributed to her arrival, the townspeople too grow hostile of her presence. For fans of Shirley Jackson. This is Bernstein's second novel.
If I Survive You, Jonathan Escoffery
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One of the debuts on the list, If I Survive You was widely considered one of the best books of 2022 and received praise from Ann Patchett, among others. It comprises a collection of short stories, the sum of which tracks a Jamaican family as they put down roots in Miami. The book claws at what it means to build a home, to merge cultures, to survive against all odds.
Western Lane, Chetna Maroo
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When 11-year-old Gopi's mother dies, the girl throws herself into the game of squash at the insistence of her father. The sport has put a wedge between Gopi and her sisters, it's all-consuming. However, she has gained a closeness with her father, the players who have come before, and 13-year-old Ged, a squash star in his own right. A refreshing look at coming-of-age, sisterhood, innocence and grief.
Prophet Song, Paul Lynch
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The dystopian nature of Prophet Song has seen Lynch compared to titans like Cormac McCarthy and Anna Burns. Set in an alien Dublin, on a dark, rainy night two officer's from Ireland's secret police turn up on Eilish Stack's doorstep to interrogate her husband for being a suspected trade unionist. As the government descends into tyranny, the scientist and mother-of-four is confronted with the task of saving her family – and the people she must leave behind to do so.
This Other Eden, Paul Harding
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Also nominated for the National Book Award, This Other Eden is loosely based around the story of a mixed-raced island community who lived off the coast of Maine at the start of the 20th century. The inhabitants of Apple Island are all descendants of formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife Patience, who escape to the island in 1792 to make a home together. When the delicate balance is disrupted by a missionary wanting to educate the inhabitants in the Shakespeare and latin, he attracts the attention of mainland scientists who evacuate the island as part of a Eugenics-led study.
The Bee Sting, Paul Murray
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A whopping novel, comprising 650 pages, The Bee Sting is a tragicomedy set in post-crash Ireland. A family drama, the book asks if one simple act of bad luck can set off a chain reaction resulting in a family's unravelling and a lifetime of misery. It focuses on the Barnes family; Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under but he doesn't seem to notice, his wife Imelda is selling jewellery on eBay and half-heartedly skirting the advances of a local farmer. Meanwhile, their children Cass and PJ are fielding their own woes; the former drinking her way through her finals exams, the latter harbouring plans to runaway... How far back would you have to travel to fix their story? Or is all this suffering simply inevitable?
