Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 shortlist has been announced and bookworms are in for a serious treat

This powerful novel explores sensitive themes, from an abusive love affair to female liberation and racism as Port of Spain boutique manager Alethea comes to terms with who she really wants to be. After witnessing a horrific murder the parallels between the dead woman's life and her own are thrown into stark relief, leading Alethea to face the past to determine her future. Described as "full of warmth and humanity, humor and sadness" by judge Mary Ann Sieghart this is a truly unmissable read.

Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 judge Lorraine Candy has remarked upon the multi-layered nature of this part-ghost-story, part-heritage tale, dubbing it, “really smart, funny and witty”. Coming from prolific novel and poetry writer Louise Erdrich, when annoying customer Flora dies on All Souls’ Day this isn’t the last a small Minneapolis bookstore sees of her. Haunting the store from 2019 to 2020, only employee Tookie might be able to solve the mystery behind Flora’s lingering presence. 

At 40 years old Martha Friel feels like she should have it all figured out, but with her husband Patrick gone, friendless, and with work hard to come by, she’s come to the realization that something needs to be done. Whether or not her old life is broken beyond repair, however, remains to be seen as she returns to her childhood home and her parents to figure out what lies ahead for her. Written by journalist and novelist Meg Mason, judge Pandora Sykes particularly admired Sorrow and Bliss’ “compassionate look at long-term mental illness” and its “brilliantly spiky” narrative.

As an award-winning author of four novels as well as a filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest, it’s perhaps no surprise to book lovers that Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness has made the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 shortlist. This inventive tale follows 13-year-old Benny Oh who, in the depths of his grief for his late father, begins to hear the voices of the objects that surround him. These only increase as his mother encounters her own problems at this difficult time and he retreats to the local library where he finds a very special book indeed.

Prepare to be taken on an emotional journey back in time to 1970s Cyprus in this story of belonging and identity as two teenagers from completely different cultures in a divided land, Defne, and Kostas, meet in secret at a local tavern. For those precious hours together they can forget the sorrows and painful world outside and just *be*. Written by British-Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, judge Dorothy Koomson has praised the way the “hauntingly beautiful” tale handles themes such as loss, love, and redemption through the “unusual connection” a young girl from London has with ancient Cyprus. 

Bringing together the lives of orphan Marian Graves and Hadley Baxter, the Hollywood star set to play her in a brand new biopic, this epic and ambitious tale won the hearts of the judges. So much so that it got Anita Sethi declaring, “I'm not sure I've read anything so filled with the evocation of wanderlust”. After vanishing without a trace when she was circumnavigating the globe, 1950s aviator Marian is surrounded by myth and rumor. But Hadley isn’t about to play her without trying to get to the bottom of what really happened all those decades before as she delves into the long-buried secrets of the pilot’s life.