The Booker Prize 2019 shortlist has been announced
Margaret Atwood's long-awaited sequel to her dystopian classic The Handmaid's Tale has made the Booker Prize shortlist. Image: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
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From a 998-page novel that's largely one continuous sentence, to the follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale, the six books on this year's Booker Prize shortlist were announced this week.
The prize is awarded annually for English-language novels published in the UK and Ireland. The winner, decided by a panel of judges, will be announced on October 14.
Here's the 2019 shortlist:
10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World
The work of Turkish-British author Elif Shafak, it tells the story of a sex worker left for dead in a rubbish bin, in an unflinching exploration of gender-based violence.
An Orchestra Of Minorities
The second time Nigerian-born, US-based Chigozie Obioma has made the shortlist. An Orchestra Of Minorities follows a young Nigerian chicken farmer who's driven to become a migrant in Europe by love.
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Ducks, Newburyport
At nearly 1,000 pages, Lucy Ellmann's stream-of-consciousness monologue is almost one continuous sentence. It's narrated by an Ohio housewife, reflecting on her life.
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Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo's first Booker-shortlisted novel follows 12 different characters. They're mostly women, black and British and the book explores their lives and struggles.
Quichotte
Sir Salman Rushdie is no stranger to the shortlist - he made it in 1983, 1988 and 1995 - and won the award in 1981 for Midnight's Children. His latest, Quichotte, is inspired by Don Quixote and follows an ageing travelling salesman in the US.
The Testaments
Margaret Atwood is also a familiar face - she was shortlisted in 1986, 1989, 1996 and 2003, and won in 2000 for The Blind Assassin. The Testaments is her follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale, set 15 years later in the same dystopian state of Gilead.
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