Six “bold and playful” novels, including The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley and Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly, have been shortlisted for the Waterstones debut fiction prize.
Now in its third year, the prize is open to all debut fiction published in the UK, and is voted on by Waterstones booksellers. In contention for this year’s £5,000 award alongside Bradley and Reilly’s novels are Martyr!, poet Kaveh Akbar’s first foray into fiction, Mongrel by actor Hanako Footman, Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon and The Silence in Between by Josie Ferguson.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones head of books, said the shortlisted authors “stood out for their assured, confident storytelling and the unique perspectives they bring to their subjects, tackling weighty themes with sensitivity and panache”. The six books celebrate “the redemptive power of art, the resilience of the human spirit, and the pure joy to be found in stories”, she added.
The Ministry of Time and Martyr! have both already been New York Times bestsellers, with the former topping the book charts in the UK, too. British-Cambodian author Bradley’s novel, a time-travel romcom about a disaffected civil servant, was described as “very smart” and “very silly” by Guardian reviewer Ella Risbridger, who also praised “the sheer, gorgeous, wild stretch of [Bradley’s] ideas”.
Iranian-American writer Akbar, who has previously published two collections of poetry, tells the story of Cyrus, the son of an Iranian migrant factory worker in Indiana, in his first novel Martyr! The trauma of losing his mother in an infamous 1988 air disaster has led to mental health and addiction struggles, and he has developed a fixation with martyrdom. The novel, according to Victoria, a bookseller at Waterstones Crewe, is written in prose that “sings from the very first line”.
Greta and Valdin by Māori novelist Reilly was shortlisted for New Zealand’s most prestigious writing prize, the Ockham book awards, in 2022. Available in the UK since February this year, the novel follows two Māori-Russian-Catalonian siblings as they explore their identities and make questionable romantic choices. Tilly from Waterstones Croydon described it as “laugh-out-loud funny” and “endlessly quotable”.
Footman, whose acting credits have included The Crown and Official Secrets, weaves together the voices of three young women in Japan and the UK for her debut novel Mongrel, which Emily from Waterstones Salisbury found “absolutely breathtakingly heart achingly brilliant”.
Two historical novels complete the shortlist: Singapore-based Swedish author Ferguson’s The Silence in Between is about a family separated by the Berlin Wall, while Irish-Libyan writer Lennon’s Glorious Exploits, set in Sicily in 412BC, uses a modern Irish vernacular to tell his story about two locals and a group of captured Athenian soldiers who put on a production of Medea. AK Blakemore, in her Guardian review, said she suspects it “will win [Lennon] many fans.”
Last year’s winner of the prize was In Memoriam by Alice Winn, which went on to become the bestselling debut of 2023. This year’s winner will be announced on 25 July.
