The winner of the 2018 Women’s Fiction Prize was announced this evening in the UK. The recipient of the award receives a “Bessie”, limited bronze figurine, and a £30,000 cash prize.

And the winner is…

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Sarah Sands, one of the 2018 judges, made a statement about this year’s choice:

This was a dazzling shortlist, it had depth and richness and variety. We were forcibly struck by the quality of the prose. Each book had its champions. We loved the originality of mermaids and courtesans, we were awed by the lyrical truth of an American road trip which serves as a commentary of the history of race in America, we discussed into the night the fine and dignified treatment of a woman’s domestic abuse, we laughed over a student’s rite of passage and we experienced the truth of losing a parent and loving a child. In the end we chose the book which we felt spoke for our times. Home Fire is about identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics. And it sustains mastery of its themes and its form. It is a remarkable book which we passionately recommend.”

Congratulations Kamila Shamsie!

Here are the other nominees that were on the shortlist:

The Idiot by Elif Bautman

Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

Sight by Jessie Greengrass

When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy