Final Judges Including Hugh Dennis, Dervla Kirwan, William Fiennes, Jojo Moyes, Geordie Greig (Chair)Judged The 2011 Costa Book Of The Year
Somerset author Andrew Miller has been announced as the winner of the 2011 Costa Book of the Year for his book ‘Pure’.
Biography of author:
Andrew Miller was born in Bristol in 1960. He has lived in Spain, Japan, Ireland and France, and currently lives in Somerset.
His first novel, Ingenious Pain, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Grinzane Cavour prize in Italy. The book has been translated into 36 languages.
What the Judges said:
“A structurally and stylistically flawless historical novel, this book is a gripping story, beautifully written and emotionally satisfying. A novel without a weakness from an author who we all feel deserves a wider readership.”
About the book:
Deep in the heart of Paris its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing. Its stench hangs in the air, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. The over-filled graves pop and burst, filling people’s basements with bones and spreading disease across the capital. But the cemetery’s roots are embedded deep in the hearts and minds of the people, for whom the graveyard has long provided a backdrop to their daily lives. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it. At first Baratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history. But before long, he begins to suspect that the destruction of the cemetery might be a prelude to his own.
Bibliography:
• Ingenious Pain (1997)
• Casanova (1998)
• Oxygen (2001)
• The Optimists (2005)
• One Morning Like a Bird (2008)
• Pure (2011)
The winning author was decided by a judging panel including actor and comedian Hugh Dennis, actress Dervla Kirwan, broadcaster Mary Nightingale, poet William Fiennes, and authors Patrick Gale, Jojo Moyes, Flora Fraser and Eleanor Updale. The panel was chaired by Geordie Greig, Editor of the Evening Standard.
B-roll will be available from 00.00 Wednesday 25th January.
For more information please contact Natalie.Jackson@tvcgroup.com | 07535 704 694
natalie.jackson@tvcgroup.com | 0207 535 5800 | 07535 704 694
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