Women's Prize for Fiction
Discover the latest from the Women's Prize for Fiction including updates for 2022 and winners from previous years.Women's Prize for Fiction 2022
Discover more about this year's prize.The 2022 shortlist
The Sentence
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich shares a wickedly funny ghost story set in a small book shop in Minneapolis.
Sorrow and Bliss
Meg Mason's novel of modern love, mental illness and starting again is spiky, sharp and told with heart-breaking tenderness.
The Book of Form and Emptiness
Blending unforgettable characters, riveting plot and engagement on themes from neurodiversity to climate change, Ruth Ozeki's novel is bold and heartbreaking.
The Island of Missing Trees
A rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted Elif Shafak.
Great Circle
With unforgettable characters and thrilling suspense, Maggie Shipstead's novel is a sweeping story of loss and obsession, sacrifice and survival.
The Bread the Devil Knead
An engrossing debut novel, Trinidadian writer and comedian Lisa Allen-Agostini's page-turner explores themes of violence, racism and liberation.
The 2022 longlist
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Careless
- By: Kirsty Capes
- Narrated by: Amber Gadd
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall192
-
Performance168
-
Story167
At 3.04 p.m. on a hot, sticky day in June, Bess finds out she's pregnant. She could tell her social worker Henry, but he's useless. She should tell her foster mother, Lisa, but she won't understand. She really ought to tell Boy, but she hasn't spoken to him in weeks. Bess knows more than anyone that love doesn't come without conditions. But this isn't a love story.
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Unmissable read
- By Sarah on 04-06-21
By: Kirsty Capes
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The Paper Palace
- By: Miranda Cowley Heller
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall1,643
-
Performance1,457
-
Story1,454
Brought to you by Penguin. 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2022 A PAGE-TURNING SUMMERTIME READ FOR FANS OF WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING AND LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE On a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the pond below 'The Paper Palace' - her...
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Don’t waste your life
- By S. Maguire on 10-08-21
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Flamingo
- By: Rachel Elliott
- Narrated by: Lucy Paterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall33
-
Performance31
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Story31
First, there were the flamingos. And then there were two families. Sherry and Leslie and their daughters, Rae and Pauline - and Eve and her son, Daniel. Sherry loves her husband, Leslie. She also loves Eve. It couldn't have been a happier summer. But then Eve left, and everything went grey. Now Daniel is all grown up and broken. And when he turns up at Sherry's door, it's almost as if they've all come home again. But there's still one missing. Where is Eve? And what, exactly, is her story?
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Flamboyance
- By Amazon Customer on 22-04-22
By: Rachel Elliott
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The Sentence
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall215
-
Performance191
-
Story191
A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading 'with murderous attention', must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning.
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Ghostly truths
- By Amazon Customer on 27-03-22
By: Louise Erdrich
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Sorrow and Bliss
- By: Meg Mason
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2,689
-
Performance2,419
-
Story2,417
Everyone tells Martha Friel she is clever and beautiful, a brilliant writer who has been loved every day of her adult life by one man, her husband Patrick. So why is everything broken? Why is Martha - on the edge of 40 - friendless, practically jobless and so often sad? And why did Patrick decide to leave? Maybe she is just too sensitive, someone who finds it harder to be alive than most people. Or maybe - as she has long believed - there is something wrong with her.
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depressing and pointless
- By Claire Smith on 23-10-21
By: Meg Mason
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The Exhibitionist
- By: Charlotte Mendelson
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall181
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Performance163
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Story162
THE TIMES NOVEL OF THE YEAR A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2022 A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BOOK OF THE YEAR 'It takes the most ferocious intelligence, skill, and a deep reservoir of sadness to write a novel as funny as this. I adored it' - Meg Mason, author of Sorrow & Bliss 'A devastating treat of a novel...
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Grotesque, unbelievable main characters
- By Jeannivista on 21-05-22
-
Careless
- By: Kirsty Capes
- Narrated by: Amber Gadd
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall192
-
Performance168
-
Story167
At 3.04 p.m. on a hot, sticky day in June, Bess finds out she's pregnant. She could tell her social worker Henry, but he's useless. She should tell her foster mother, Lisa, but she won't understand. She really ought to tell Boy, but she hasn't spoken to him in weeks. Bess knows more than anyone that love doesn't come without conditions. But this isn't a love story.
-
-
Unmissable read
- By Sarah on 04-06-21
By: Kirsty Capes
-
The Paper Palace
- By: Miranda Cowley Heller
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall1,643
-
Performance1,457
-
Story1,454
Brought to you by Penguin. 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2022 A PAGE-TURNING SUMMERTIME READ FOR FANS OF WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING AND LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE On a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the pond below 'The Paper Palace' - her...
-
-
Don’t waste your life
- By S. Maguire on 10-08-21
-
Flamingo
- By: Rachel Elliott
- Narrated by: Lucy Paterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall33
-
Performance31
-
Story31
First, there were the flamingos. And then there were two families. Sherry and Leslie and their daughters, Rae and Pauline - and Eve and her son, Daniel. Sherry loves her husband, Leslie. She also loves Eve. It couldn't have been a happier summer. But then Eve left, and everything went grey. Now Daniel is all grown up and broken. And when he turns up at Sherry's door, it's almost as if they've all come home again. But there's still one missing. Where is Eve? And what, exactly, is her story?
-
-
Flamboyance
- By Amazon Customer on 22-04-22
By: Rachel Elliott
-
The Sentence
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall215
-
Performance191
-
Story191
A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading 'with murderous attention', must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning.
-
-
Ghostly truths
- By Amazon Customer on 27-03-22
By: Louise Erdrich
-
Sorrow and Bliss
- By: Meg Mason
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2,689
-
Performance2,419
-
Story2,417
Everyone tells Martha Friel she is clever and beautiful, a brilliant writer who has been loved every day of her adult life by one man, her husband Patrick. So why is everything broken? Why is Martha - on the edge of 40 - friendless, practically jobless and so often sad? And why did Patrick decide to leave? Maybe she is just too sensitive, someone who finds it harder to be alive than most people. Or maybe - as she has long believed - there is something wrong with her.
-
-
depressing and pointless
- By Claire Smith on 23-10-21
By: Meg Mason
-
The Exhibitionist
- By: Charlotte Mendelson
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall181
-
Performance163
-
Story162
THE TIMES NOVEL OF THE YEAR A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2022 A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BOOK OF THE YEAR 'It takes the most ferocious intelligence, skill, and a deep reservoir of sadness to write a novel as funny as this. I adored it' - Meg Mason, author of Sorrow & Bliss 'A devastating treat of a novel...
-
-
Grotesque, unbelievable main characters
- By Jeannivista on 21-05-22
Meet the judges
Mary Ann Sieghart - Chair
A journalist, broadcaster, and author of the bestselling book, The Authority Gap: Why We Still Take Women Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It, Mary Ann Sieghart worked at The Times for nearly twenty years, as Assistant Editor, Comment Editor, Arts Editor and political columnist, and has also worked at the FT, The Economist and The Independent. Mary Ann presents programmes on BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service and has frequently appeared on Question Time, Any Questions, Newsnight, The Andrew Marr Show, The Today Programme and Woman’s Hour.
She has been a Visiting Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and is currently a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. She chaired the Social Market Foundation think tank and is a director of The Scott Trust. She is senior trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust and has sat on the boards of Tate Modern, Ofcom’s Content Board, the Heritage Lottery Fund and three large FTSE-quoted investment trusts.
Lorraine Candy
An award-winning journalist and editor, Lorraine Candy is the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, ELLE, and most recently Sunday Times Style. She began her career on The Cornish Times before going on to become Woman's Editor at The Sun and then Features Editor at The Times. Her first book, Mum What's Wrong With You: 101 Things Only the Mothers of Teenage Girls Know, is a Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller. A mum of four she has over a decade of experience writing about parenting in national publications, including columns with the Sunday Times Magazine and Femail in the Daily Mail. She also writes for the monthly and weekly fashion and beauty magazines.
Lorraine is co-host of the chart-topping lifestyle podcast Postcards from Midlife. She is on the advisory board at Tate Modern and on the Tate gallery membership council. Lorraine is a champion of educating young girls, working on the media advisory board of the global charity Their World. She's also an ambassador for the charity Women In Sport and the newly launched Menopause Charity.
Dorothy Koomson
Dorothy Koomson is an award-winning, global bestselling author and journalist whose books have been translated into more than 30 languages, with sales that exceed two million copies in the UK alone.
Dorothy was featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain and appeared in GQ Style as a Black British trailblazer. Dorothy uses her platform to support new writers and hosts The Happy Author podcast. Her latest book, the Sunday Times Bestseller, I Know What You’ve Done, is published by Headline.
Anita Sethi
Anita Sethi was born in Manchester and is author of the acclaimed new book, I Belong Here: a Journey Along the Backbone of Britain. I Belong Here has been described as 'a magnificent and redemptive achievement' by The Bookseller, 'a memoir of rare power' by The Guardian, and 'an amazing odyssey: inspiring, powerful, encouraging and incredibly brave' by The Independent. I Belong Here was nominated for the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing, Portico Prize, and Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, among others.
Her writing has also appeared in anthologies including Women on Nature, The Wild Isles, Seasons and Common People. She has written for The Guardian, Observer, iNews, The Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Vogue, TLS, and BBC Wildlife among others and appeared on various BBC radio programmes. A literary activist and campaigner, she has set up the I Belong Here foundation.
Pandora Sykes
A journalist and broadcaster Pandora Sykes has written for The Sunday Times, The Guardian, ELLE, Vogue, GQ and Grazia. She is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling essay collection, How Do We Know We're Doing It Right? and is the creator of numerous Top 10 podcasts including The High Low, Doing It Right, The Missing and the BBC Radio 4 audio documentary, Pieces of Britney.
A keen reader, she has interviewed authors including David Nicholls, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Graham Norton, Leili Slimani and Bernardine Evaristo and voiced several audio books, for Jilly Cooper among others.
