This year’s Costa Book of the Year has been awarded to Monique Roffey forThe Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story. Based on a legend from the culture of the Taino, an indigenous carribean people, it’s a dark love story between a fisherman and a mermaid torn from the sea.
Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious book prizes, the Costa Book Awards honours some of the best books written by authors resident in Britain and Ireland.
It welcomes a wide range of titles to be considered across five categories: first novel, novel, poetry, biography, and children’s book. From the winners of each of these categories, one is selected overall as the Costa Book of the Year.
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb, chair of judges for the prize, said this year’s winning novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch, is an “extraordinary, beautifully written, captivating, visceral book – full of mythic energy and unforgettable characters, including some tremendously transgressive women”.
Adding that “it is utterly original – unlike anything we’ve ever read – and feels like a classic in the making from a writer at the height of her powers. It’s a book that will take you to the furthest reaches of your imagination – we found it completely compelling."
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Roffey beat fierce competition, including the bookie’s favourite, Lee Lawrence’s debut, a memoir titled The Louder I Will Sing as well as Ingrid Persaud’s first novel Love After Love, the late poet Eavan Bolan’s posthumous Historians, and children’s book Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant.
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To honour this year’s winner, Monique Roffey, we take a look at her title and the four crowned books that preceded it, all of which demonstrate the true joy of literature in all its forms.
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