Elmet

BY Fiona Mozley
Book Information1/1/0/UK/JM Originals/2017/c.13,000  •  ?  •  ?  •   Booker Finalist'17 


This is the romantic one with an underdog storyline that's causing a stir at the 2017 Booker prize. Fiona Mozley was a doctoral student working at Little Apple Bookshop who wrote the novel, her first, one line at a time, during her commute between London and York where she worked. Although Mozley was an stranger to the publication world, Becky Walsh recognized the novel's brilliance and made it her first acquisition as an editor at John Murray. The first impression was published in unassuming paperback format instead of the usual hardcover. And then the book was longlisted for the 2017 Booker prize, along with heavyweights like Colson Whitehead and Arundhati Roy. Good beginner's luck, perhaps. And then some heavyweights drop away but "Elmet" remained on the shortlist. Early accolades ensued, and "Elmet" is perhaps the most talked, or, rather, written about 2017 Booker shortlist now. 

This is a signed first edition copy acquired from the Little Apple Bookshop in York! How romantic. Someone commented that this might be the rare, precious literary gem that could go against the odds to win the Booker prize. "Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?" Alas, life is no fairy tale. "Elmet" didn't win. "Lincoln in the Bardo" won.












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