Flying high

If you can see it! 

A lovely day. We set off early, just as the sun was starting to burn off the mist that hung around in the valleys. Breakfast at Lakeland and a little shopping and then we had thought to stop off somewhere in the Lakes. However, there were so many people around, we just stopped briefly at the top of the Kirkstone Pass and then went home to sit in the quiet in the garden. 


Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021
This prize should have been given back in June, but it was postponed until now, so that some kind of ceremony could take place. The winner will now be announced tomorrow, so I thought I would give my thoughts as a record, and for anyone interested. 

The books are in Extras. I have read five out of the six and re-read four of them. It was a strong shortlist and there isn’t one of them that isn’t at the top spot on someone’s list. So it is all really down to  personal preference, when it comes to thinking what might win. In my photo the books are in order of my preference - the top four the ones I have enjoyed the most and which I also think are the best books. The other two I can’t say much about - I have not read the Lockwood, although I did try, the first half is in ‘Twitter speak’ and means little unless one is a social media addict - apparently! I have read the Jones, but did not like it - far too bleak. It is well-written, but not a book I want to read again.

So the other four: I love Piranesi, it is the one I would choose to win. It is brilliant. However, it is not for everyone, my daughter could not get into it at all and she is not the only one. It is not like anything else and one has to be prepared to immerse oneself into the strange, fantastic world it conjures up. The other three are excellent books and well worth reading. If you want to know more about them the best place is the Women’s Prize website. 

I have no idea which book will win the prize and I would be happy for any of the top four to be successful. I liked Piranesi the best, but I don’t think it will win. I suspect Transcendent Kingdom has a good chance (my daughter loved this), but The Vanishing Half is a good read and is already selling well. Then the Lockwood is very topical and the Jones is saying some important things. I then wonder whether the quiet, understated Unsettled Ground might just be the one. I really don’t know. We will find out tomorrow.