Small Island, Andrea Levy's humane, generous exploration of post-war England through the eyes of two couples, one English and one Jamaican, has been chosen from the 10 winners of the Orange Prize for Fiction for the 'best of the best' award. The award was conceived to celebrate 10 years of Orange Prize, which has overcome the controversy sparked at its inception by its woman-only policy to become one of the UK's most prestigious literary prizes. It was judged by the chairs of previous Orange judging panels and chaired by Kate Mosse, the award's co-founder and honorary director.
At this evening's ceremony at the Lyric Theatre in London, a delighted-looking Levy - who beat Carol Shields, Linda Grant and Ann Patchett, among others, to the gong - was presented with a silver statuette in honour of the occasion. After congratulating Levy on her win, Mosse went on to describe the new award as "a fantastic way to celebrate 10 years of exceptional women's fiction and mark the achievements of the Orange Prize," and "a great opportunity to introduce a new generation of readers to some of the outstanding novels they may have missed first time round."
Certainly, there were plenty of outstanding novels to choose from, and the judges must have had a tough time deciding whom to vote for. Do you think they got it right?
