If you’re in the UK, hip hip hooray to the Bank Holiday! Or maybe you’ve booked yourself a long weekend away.
No plans? No problem. Our Women’s Prize library is packed with literary treasures to transport you to new and exciting worlds, all from the comfort of your favourite armchair. We’ve picked some books from our current shortlists and other treasures in our library to fill your weekend with books. What are you waiting for?
Shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy is a visceral account of the all-encompassing, mind-altering highs and lows of motherhood. It is a compulsive read and one that will take readers on a rollercoaster of emotions, as Soldier (the mother) battles with a landscape that feels entirely alien to her.
Shortlisted for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction
Jacqueline Crooks debut novel is filled with music and rhythm. It follows the unforgettable Yamaye, from the underground London dub scene to Bristol to the future promise of Jamaica. She undergoes a journey of transformation that is both joyous and at times heart-breaking in this lyrical and vibrant novel.
Longlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction
No matter how brilliant the adaptation (and from what we’ve seen so far it looks pretty good!) the book is always better. So before Queenie lands on our screens on June 7th, why not meet her in her original form. She’s complex, confused and beautifully rendered by author Candice Carty-Williams. This is a story of identity, finding where you belong and self-worth.
Shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction
If you have time to ponder bigger questions then top on our list of books to recommend is Code Dependent by Madhumita Murgia. The advances in AI in many different industries and how they touch our everyday lives will astonish readers and Murgia brilliant pulls out the benefits and the perils of this changing landscape. AI is already changing what it means to be human and the book is a rallying cry for control over the algorithms of our lives.
