Women dominate Goldsboro Glass Bell Award shortlist

Women dominate the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award this year, making up five of the six-strong shortlist, which also features three debuts. 

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (Bonnier Zaffre), which was last week announced as the UK’s fourth bestselling book for the first six months of 2019, will go head to head with fellow debuts Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (Cornerstone) and VOX by Christina Dalcher (HQ). 

The debuts are up against three thrillers – the 2018 Man Booker longlisted Snap by Belinda Bauer (Transworld), Our House by Louise Candlish (Simon & Schuster), which won the British Book Award Crime & Thriller of the Year, and lone male author M W Craven’s CWA Gold Dagger-shortlisted The Puppet Show (Little, Brown).

The award, which saw Women’s Prize-nominated Ordinary People by Diana Evans (Vintage) make the longlist, celebrates the best storytelling across all genres of contemporary fiction. The winner will take home £2,000 and an engraved glass bell.

Goldsboro Books founder and m.d. David Headley and his team at the bookshop will judge the prize which rewards "‘compelling storytelling with brilliant characterisation and a distinct voice that is confidently written and assuredly realised". 

Headley said: "I strongly feel that this is a really topical and relevant shortlist, reflecting a range of modern concerns, from property anxiety and the redemptive power of love to toxic friendships and the erosion of hard-won rights. These utterly incredible stories, all of them eye-opening, gripping and completely absorbing, have prompted much discussion and debate during the judging process, and we have a hard task ahead of us deciding the winner."

The winner will be announced at the bookshop on Monday 16th September.