I’m sure you have heard by now that the winner of the Bailey’s Women’s Prize 2017, announced on 7th June, is Naomi Alderman for The Power. Many congratulations to Naomi, a well deserved win.

The Warwickshire Libraries Super Reader’s group, who have been shadowing the prize (reading all the six short-listed books)  voted for the same book to be the Warwickshire Winner the night before (6th June at Kenilworth library). Here’s what the group thought of the The Power:

‘A great dystopian novel, highly readable and thought-provoking. There is a lot of violence in it, but most of us felt it would stand the test of time, and become a classic of it’s type ( like the Handmaid’s Tale)  It has a modernist edge with high originality.’

We are delighted that our chosen book has won the national award. It is gratifying that our critique matches that of the judges.

It is also great that such a very readable book has won this coveted prize. Also unusual that a dystopian book has won.

I urge you to read it!

Below are the mini reviews for the shortlist for your perusal.

“We  considered rather “soap opera-ish”  and was rather unconvincing,contrived,and with too much drama. Typical of it’s genre, and too like many others. Not outstanding but a pleasant-enough read.”
“This was our second favourite- beautifully written, with humour. Conventional in it’s style, but giving insight into the period it is set, and approaches to the treatment of tuberculosis.”
“A very American novel, and far too long, with descriptive passages which do not engage the reader. Very unlikely to appeal to many readers.”
“This was our allocated book, and our least favourite of the six, being a cold , uncomfortable read, with very little to redeem it. We were left wondering what the point of it was….”
“A difficult book to get into and again, was far too long. It was interesting , up to a point, but we thought Wild Swans by Jung Chang, a better book to understand the political issues of that place and time.”
All books featured on the shortlist and longlist from this year’s prize are available to borrow from Warwickshire Libraries. Borrow now.

 

Did you read any of the shortlist? We’d love to know what you thought, comment below or contact jandawson@warwickshire.gov.uk