Paul Lynch wins the Booker Prize 2023 with the book ‘Prophet Song’ – and you can buy it now

Judges described ‘Prophet Song’ as ‘a novel with a guiding vision’

Wednesday 29 November 2023 09:10 EST

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At the Booker Prize 2023, Paul Lynch won the prestigious fiction-writing prize for his novel Prophet Song.

Set in Dublin, it tells the story of a family grappling with a terrifying new world in which the democratic norms they’re used to begin to disappear.

Booker Prize head judge, Esi Edugyan, said the panel “sought a winning novel that might speak to the immediate moment while also possessing the possibility of outlasting it”. She added: “In these troubled times, we sought a novel with a guiding vision – a book to remind us that we are more than ourselves, to remind us of all that is worth saving.”

This is Paul Lynch’s fifth novel, following the publication of Red Sky in Morning, The Black Snow, Grace and Beyond the Sea. But it’s not his only award-winning title, as Grace won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2018 and was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

After winning the Booker Prize, 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.”

If you’re interested in adding Prophet Song to your reading list or getting it as a Christmas gift for a literary lover, here’s how you can buy it now.

‘Prophet Song’ by Paul Lynch, published by Oneworld: £9.99, Amazon.co.uk

Paul Lynch won the Booker Prize with Prophet Song. The dystopian novel is set in Ireland and follows Eilish Stack, a scientist and mother-of-four as her husband is taken away by secret police and she tries to save her family. It’s said to be a powerful and haunting novel.

Whether you read it on holiday or on the commute, you’ll get a few nods of appreciation when those in the know spot what you’re reading. Not that you’ll notice, as you’ll be too lost in the story to pay attention to what’s going on around you.

Should you prefer to listen to the story rather than read it, Audible has you covered. It’s cheaper than the paperback at £7.99 for an Audible subscription. Or, you could get it for free with an Audible free trial.

Buy now