2020 Exeter Novel Prize Award Ceremony
The award ceremony was held on Saturday 29th May. Zoom came to our rescue as we were unable to hold a live event but being online did mean that all six of our finalists were able to attend. It was a privilege to listen to such talented writers read out their opening paragraphs, and fascinating to hear what our final judge, literary agent Kate Nash, had to say about them. Her report on each one is below.
Our congratulations to them all but a particular accolade must go to Harriet Avery who wins the big prize for her wonderful novel Saving Rosalind.
Our congratulations to them all but a particular accolade must go to Harriet Avery who wins the big prize for her wonderful novel Saving Rosalind.
In Deep Still Waters by Catherine Ogston - COMMENDED
In Deep Still Waters is a dual narrative novel that follows schoolteachers Isobel McAlister and Kirsty Conner’s experiences on the deserted slate island of Belnahua, having travelled there from Scotland in 1850 and 2022 respectively. Both women arrive wounded from past events but do not find the respite they hoped for on this deserted island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. While Isobel investigates the mysterious disappearance of the schoolteacher who preceded her, Kirsty has the misfortune of discovering that history can indeed repeat itself.
The narrative voice here is superb: Kirsty’s dry wit and comically scathing observations really drive the story and caused me to quickly engage with it. My interest was further piqued when the timeline moved to 1850 and we are introduced to Isobel, a distant ancestor of Kirsty who undertook the same journey she did. The author does a fantastic job of creating an ominous atmosphere on the island, and this chillingly resurfaces over 170 years later when Kirsty’s companion, Rosa, slaps her five year old daughter. The contrast established between Rosa and Paul’s four children is captivating and the reader looks forward to seeing how this impacts the events which are to unfold.
The Last Holy Man by Tehila Lieberman
The Last Holy Man begins in Danang in 1972, in the final years of the Vietnam War, before moving to 1994 in Boston. David Fein, a young chaplain, claims paternity to Anh’s unborn child so that both their lives are saved. When David and his wife Rebecca are going through their third round of IVF twenty two years later, matters for David are complicated by the arrival of his secret Vietnamese family.
The Last Holy Man opens with one man’s inner turmoil: should he lie and jeopardise his career as a chaplain, or remain quiet and seal the fate of the terrified and heavily pregnant woman in front of him? David’s powerful decision to take the difficult, but morally correct, path wins the reader's allegiance, and the author succeeded in making my affection and respect for him grow as the narrative continued. This story is well-paced and poignantly explores the theme of grief and the true meaning of family.
The Heaven Born by Glenda Cooper
The Heaven Born is set in pre-Raj India and Regency England and is based on the events of the 1822 ‘Infamous Seduction’ court case. When Mary Ann’s English father is promoted to become one of the ‘Heaven Born’, her Parsi mother is exiled and Mary Ann and her sister passed off as English. Returning to Calcutta ten years later, Mary Ann comes face to face with what her life could have been and finds herself having to take the same difficult decisions her father did when she is caught up in a scandalous court case.
The Heaven Born is delightfully immersive in description and setting, and I was fascinated to learn that it is inspired by the author’s own great-great-great grandmother. My heart went out to little Mary Ann and Jeanette, who are forbidden from seeing their real mother and have their Parsi culture eradicated by their domineering aunt Rachel. The author skillfully highlights the differences between the two cultures, initially through the eyes of a child, in a narrative which is poignant, powerful and incredibly thought-provoking.
The Wind Road by Joanna Eden
The Wind Road revolves around one of Britain’s worst ever coal mining disasters and spans three time periods: 1934, 1984 and 2014. Wey Smith works as a hewer during the Gresford disaster, Jemima dreams of the soot men she believes live under her house in 1984 and the Old Man of 2014 sits alone in his chair and remembers the Gresford Bells and the disaster of 1934.
The author triumphs in establishing three distinct and very different voices, as they move seamlessly between the three time periods in which the narrative is set. Fast-moving and engaging, its authentic dialogue and well-timed references to pop culture ensured I was grounded within the decade I was reading about and even served as occasional sources of amusement. The supplied diagram of Gresford Colliery and document inserts were welcome additions to the narrative and helped contextualise events. The author succeeds in building curiosity surrounding the identities of Wey, Joanna and the Old Man and the reader looks forward to seeing how their connection is revealed.
The Map of Lost Lands by Lucy Steeds
The Map of Lost Lands follows young, silver-eyed Marnie, who lives with her adoptive father above a pawn shop in Victorian London. Marnie has always known she is ‘different’, but as hostility towards her grows, she plucks up the courage to ask her Pa where she truly comes from and decides to search for her lost homeland which has been erased from the history books.
The prologue to The Map of Lost Lands is hugely engaging and had me hooked from the first sentence. The author’s narrative voice is elusive but confident and succeeds in establishing Marnie as an outsider and arousing a considerable amount of intrigue concerning her heritage. Expertly-paced, Marnie is a highly sympathetic and good-natured protagonist and each chapter ends with a memorable line that is both chilling and foreboding.
Saving Rosalind by Harriet Avery - WINNER
Saving Rosalind follows the work and life of Rosalind Franklin - the scientist whose photograph is responsible for the discovery of the DNA double helix. As one of the few women working in her field, Rosalind struggles at the hands of her devious and womanising colleagues, before discovering a lump in her abdomen which turns out to be cancerous. Rosalind dies in 1958, uncredited for her work. After her death, Rosalind’s mother, Muriel, sets out to reinstate her daughter’s rightful place in history and the book is written in part from Muriel’s perspective.
The prologue to Saving Rosalind is a rare moment in which we hear from Rosalind herself and it is beautifully written and paced - providing the instant hook that readers crave. I have great admiration for Muriel’s objective to vindicate Rosalind and the author’s voice powerfully captures one woman’s struggle in a man’s world. The dialogue is natural and authentic, perfectly capturing the varying views and personalities in Rosalind’s family. With Rosalind Franklin now widely acknowledged as the driving force behind our understanding of the molecular structure of DNA, I think it is safe to say that both Muriel and the author have succeeded in their aim for Rosalind’s work to receive the recognition it deserves.
In Deep Still Waters is a dual narrative novel that follows schoolteachers Isobel McAlister and Kirsty Conner’s experiences on the deserted slate island of Belnahua, having travelled there from Scotland in 1850 and 2022 respectively. Both women arrive wounded from past events but do not find the respite they hoped for on this deserted island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. While Isobel investigates the mysterious disappearance of the schoolteacher who preceded her, Kirsty has the misfortune of discovering that history can indeed repeat itself.
The narrative voice here is superb: Kirsty’s dry wit and comically scathing observations really drive the story and caused me to quickly engage with it. My interest was further piqued when the timeline moved to 1850 and we are introduced to Isobel, a distant ancestor of Kirsty who undertook the same journey she did. The author does a fantastic job of creating an ominous atmosphere on the island, and this chillingly resurfaces over 170 years later when Kirsty’s companion, Rosa, slaps her five year old daughter. The contrast established between Rosa and Paul’s four children is captivating and the reader looks forward to seeing how this impacts the events which are to unfold.
The Last Holy Man by Tehila Lieberman
The Last Holy Man begins in Danang in 1972, in the final years of the Vietnam War, before moving to 1994 in Boston. David Fein, a young chaplain, claims paternity to Anh’s unborn child so that both their lives are saved. When David and his wife Rebecca are going through their third round of IVF twenty two years later, matters for David are complicated by the arrival of his secret Vietnamese family.
The Last Holy Man opens with one man’s inner turmoil: should he lie and jeopardise his career as a chaplain, or remain quiet and seal the fate of the terrified and heavily pregnant woman in front of him? David’s powerful decision to take the difficult, but morally correct, path wins the reader's allegiance, and the author succeeded in making my affection and respect for him grow as the narrative continued. This story is well-paced and poignantly explores the theme of grief and the true meaning of family.
The Heaven Born by Glenda Cooper
The Heaven Born is set in pre-Raj India and Regency England and is based on the events of the 1822 ‘Infamous Seduction’ court case. When Mary Ann’s English father is promoted to become one of the ‘Heaven Born’, her Parsi mother is exiled and Mary Ann and her sister passed off as English. Returning to Calcutta ten years later, Mary Ann comes face to face with what her life could have been and finds herself having to take the same difficult decisions her father did when she is caught up in a scandalous court case.
The Heaven Born is delightfully immersive in description and setting, and I was fascinated to learn that it is inspired by the author’s own great-great-great grandmother. My heart went out to little Mary Ann and Jeanette, who are forbidden from seeing their real mother and have their Parsi culture eradicated by their domineering aunt Rachel. The author skillfully highlights the differences between the two cultures, initially through the eyes of a child, in a narrative which is poignant, powerful and incredibly thought-provoking.
The Wind Road by Joanna Eden
The Wind Road revolves around one of Britain’s worst ever coal mining disasters and spans three time periods: 1934, 1984 and 2014. Wey Smith works as a hewer during the Gresford disaster, Jemima dreams of the soot men she believes live under her house in 1984 and the Old Man of 2014 sits alone in his chair and remembers the Gresford Bells and the disaster of 1934.
The author triumphs in establishing three distinct and very different voices, as they move seamlessly between the three time periods in which the narrative is set. Fast-moving and engaging, its authentic dialogue and well-timed references to pop culture ensured I was grounded within the decade I was reading about and even served as occasional sources of amusement. The supplied diagram of Gresford Colliery and document inserts were welcome additions to the narrative and helped contextualise events. The author succeeds in building curiosity surrounding the identities of Wey, Joanna and the Old Man and the reader looks forward to seeing how their connection is revealed.
The Map of Lost Lands by Lucy Steeds
The Map of Lost Lands follows young, silver-eyed Marnie, who lives with her adoptive father above a pawn shop in Victorian London. Marnie has always known she is ‘different’, but as hostility towards her grows, she plucks up the courage to ask her Pa where she truly comes from and decides to search for her lost homeland which has been erased from the history books.
The prologue to The Map of Lost Lands is hugely engaging and had me hooked from the first sentence. The author’s narrative voice is elusive but confident and succeeds in establishing Marnie as an outsider and arousing a considerable amount of intrigue concerning her heritage. Expertly-paced, Marnie is a highly sympathetic and good-natured protagonist and each chapter ends with a memorable line that is both chilling and foreboding.
Saving Rosalind by Harriet Avery - WINNER
Saving Rosalind follows the work and life of Rosalind Franklin - the scientist whose photograph is responsible for the discovery of the DNA double helix. As one of the few women working in her field, Rosalind struggles at the hands of her devious and womanising colleagues, before discovering a lump in her abdomen which turns out to be cancerous. Rosalind dies in 1958, uncredited for her work. After her death, Rosalind’s mother, Muriel, sets out to reinstate her daughter’s rightful place in history and the book is written in part from Muriel’s perspective.
The prologue to Saving Rosalind is a rare moment in which we hear from Rosalind herself and it is beautifully written and paced - providing the instant hook that readers crave. I have great admiration for Muriel’s objective to vindicate Rosalind and the author’s voice powerfully captures one woman’s struggle in a man’s world. The dialogue is natural and authentic, perfectly capturing the varying views and personalities in Rosalind’s family. With Rosalind Franklin now widely acknowledged as the driving force behind our understanding of the molecular structure of DNA, I think it is safe to say that both Muriel and the author have succeeded in their aim for Rosalind’s work to receive the recognition it deserves.
