A year of skewed views and unreliable narrators; cli-fi and post-apocalyptic lands; and journeys of discovery.
Ten of the Best in Fiction
In no particular order:
- Best hypocrisy in small town America novel: Pew – Catherine Lacey
- Best unworldly young woman takes a false identity to resolve a mystery novel: Case Study – Graeme Macrae Burnet
- Best unworldly young woman takes a false identity to resolve her yearnings novel: The Driver’s Seat – Muriel Spark
- Best affair with a sea creature in response to an insufferable life novel: Mrs Caliban – Rachel Ingalls
- Best mythical beast in a cli-fi novel: The Rain Heron – Robbie Arnott
- Best post-apocalyptic coming of age novel: Riddley Walker – Russell Hoban
- Best mid-life crisis novel: The Woman from Uruguay – Pedro Mairal
- Best road trip novel: The Lincoln Highway – Amor Towles
- Best don’t trust the husband novel: The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Best don’t trust anyone novel: The Octopus Man – Jasper Gibson
Top Five Non-Fiction
- Alexandria: the quest for the lost city – Edmund Richardson. Riveting True Adventure
- Madhouse at the end of the earth – Julian Sancton. A sensational account of the fated Belgian Antarctic Expedition.
- Clothes, clothes, clothes, music, music, music, boys, boys, boys – Viv Albertine. Punk rock autobiography.
- A spy among friends – Ben Macintire. Kim Philby: a life of drinking, womanising and espionage.
- The Hard Crowd: essays 2000-2020 – Rachel Kushner. Essays on politics, culture, writing and cars. A masterclass in writing to engage the audience.
