The shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction has been revealed, with four books in contention for the award given annually to “writing of exceptional quality which is set in the past.”
Colm Tóibín was named a finalist for The Magician, his fictionalized portrait of the life of Thomas Mann, the legendary German author of Death in Venice and The Magic Mountain. Tóibín’s novel won the Rathbones Folio Prize last month.
James Robertson made the shortlist for News of the Dead, a novel set in northeast Scotland in three different eras. Andrew Greig’s Rose Nicolson, also set in Scotland but in the 16th century, was named a finalist, as was Amanda Smyth’s Fortune, which takes place in Trinidad during the 1920s oil rush.
“Debate at Walter Scott Prize meetings is always lively,” the prize’s judges said in a statement. “Hard choices must be made. But informed, as always, by the WSP’s criteria of ambition, innovation, enduring appeal and quality of writing, the four books on our shortlist shone brightly in this year’s firmament. We hope readers will celebrate the art and craft of each, and enjoy four very different tales very differently told.”
The Walter Scott Prize was established in 2010 by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, and named after the author of Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, widely considered the father of the historical novel. It comes with a cash award of about $32,500.
The winner of the prize will be announced at the Borders Book Festival on June 17.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
