Evaristo and Carty-Williams win big at British Book Awards 2020

Bernardine Evaristo and Candice Carty-Williams won big at British Book Awards 2020 it was announced on 29th June 2020 with Evaristo snagging the 'Fiction Prize' & 'Author of the Year' title and Carty-Williams winning ‘Debut Book of the Year and ‘Book of the Year’ accolades.

Candice Carty-Williams novel 'Queenie' saw off competition for the overall Book of the Year trophy from among others, Bernardine Evaristo’s Booker-winning Girl, Woman, Other (Hamish Hamilton). ‘Queenie’ is the tale of the life and loves of Jamaican British woman Queenie Jenkins. The book was previously named Blackwell's Book of the Year 2019 and was a runner-up for the Costa First Novel Award.

Carty-Williams said in the online ceremony: “I’m the first black winner and the first black woman to win it. And I’m proud of myself, obviously, but I guess I’d like to be prouder of the publishing industry.”

“There’s a lot more work to be done and a lot more change and a lot more activism,” Carty-Williams went on to say to the camera: “The last words in Queenie I wrote were ‘black lives matter.’ And it’s important for me to say that because I’m really proud of who I am and really proud of where I’ve come from. And against all the odds, I’ve managed to get to this place. I just hope that more people like me get to do that.”

It was a double triumph for Bernardine Evaristo, whose Booker-winning ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ (Hamish Hamilton) won the Fiction prize and she also picked up the British Book Awards Author of the Year. In a tweet, Evaristo said “Bittersweet history-making. Still, the commercial & critical argument has been won. Let's work towards a future where we no longer have these conversations because EVERYONE is included in the narrative: Asian, Black, disabled, LGBTQ+, white, working class”.

Nigerian writer Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel My Sister, the Serial Killer (Atlantic Books) won the Fiction: Crime & Thriller Book of the Year award and has already been translated into 32 languages.

Queenie
by Candice Carty-Williams
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Trapeze; 01 edition (6 February 2020)
Language: English
ASIN: B07FSS4Z9M
ISBN-10: 1409180050 (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1409180077 (Paperback)
Guide price: £4.99 - Kindle Edition | £9.99 - Hardcover | £6.99 - Paperback
Click to buy Kindle Edition | Hardcover | Paperback

Synopsis:

Meet Queenie.

She just can't cut a break. Well, apart from one from her long term boyfriend, Tom. That's just a break though. Definitely not a break up. Stuck between a boss who doesn't seem to see her, a family who don't seem to listen (if it's not Jesus or water rates, they're not interested), and trying to fit in two worlds that don't really understand her, it's no wonder she's struggling.

She was named to be queen of everything. So why is she finding it so hard to rule her own life?

Girl, Woman, Other
by Bernardine Evaristo
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Penguin; 01 edition (5 March 2020)
Language: English
ASIN: B07GSXWFSZ
ISBN-10: 0241364906 (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0241984998 (Paperback)
Guide price: £4.99 - Kindle Edition | £13.99 - Hardcover | £6.99 - Paperback
Click to buy Kindle Edition | Hardcover | Paperback

Synopsis:

From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope .

My Sister, the Serial Killer
by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Atlantic Books; Main edition (26 September 2019)
Language: English
ASIN: B07D7KJV13
ISBN-10: 178649597X (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1786495988 (Paperback)
Guide price: £4.99 Kindle Edition | Hardcover | £6.99 - Paperback
Click to buy Kindle Edition | Hardcover | Paperback

Synopsis:

When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him, and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other...

About the British Book Awards

The awards, known as the “Nibbies”, are marking their 30th year, and also had a special “30 from 30” prize in honour of the occasion. It was won by J K Rowling whose Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Bloomsbury) was picked from a shortlist of previous award winners selected by readers and trade figures.

British Book Awards 2020 winners

Audiobook of the Year - The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Penguin Random House Audio)
Children's: Fiction Book of the Year - A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (Electric Monkey)
Children's: Illustrated & Non-Fiction Book of the Year - The Smeds and The Smoos by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books)
Fiction: Book of the Year - Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton)
Fiction: Crime & Thriller Book of the Year - My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
Fiction: Debut Book of the Year - Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (Trapeze)
Non-Fiction: Lifestyle Book of the Year - Pinch of Nom by Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone (Bluebird)
Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year - Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Bloomsbury Circus)
Illustrator of the Year: David McKee
Author of the Year: Bernardine Evaristo
Overall Book of the Year: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (Trapeze)