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American Valerie Martin wins Orange prize
London, June 04: An outsider, American writer Valerie Martin has won the 30,000 pounds Orange fiction prize, Britain`s biggest prize for women`s fiction for her novel `Property`, about a female slave owner in Louisiana in the early 19th century.
London, June 04: An outsider, American writer Valerie Martin has won the 30,000 pounds Orange fiction prize, Britain's biggest prize for women's fiction for her novel
'Property', about a female slave owner in Louisiana in the early 19th century.
Donna Tartt had been widely expected to win the prize for
'The Little Friend', her second novel published after a hiatus
of a decade. Bookmakers William Hill had offered odds of 2-1
on it, while 'Property' was on 7-2.
An online poll conducted on the competition's website had placed 'Property' fifth of the six books on the shortlist, with 10 per cent of votes. 'The Little Friend' had come first, with 28 per cent.
Zadie Smith, with her second novel 'The Autograph Man', had been second favourite with the bookmakers and third in the online poll.
The prize, open to all women writing in English, has swung backwards and forwards across the Atlantic since it was founded in 1996.
The judges took nearly five hours last night to decide on 'Property'. It is the sixth novel by Martin, 54, who lives in New york. Her best known work is 'Mary Reilly', the story of Dr Jekyll's maid.
The narrator of 'Property' is Manon Gaudet, who is unhappily married to the owner of a sugar plantation at a time of uprising. As a wedding present, she has been given a slave girl with whom her husband had an affair.
An online poll conducted on the competition's website had placed 'Property' fifth of the six books on the shortlist, with 10 per cent of votes. 'The Little Friend' had come first, with 28 per cent.
Zadie Smith, with her second novel 'The Autograph Man', had been second favourite with the bookmakers and third in the online poll.
The prize, open to all women writing in English, has swung backwards and forwards across the Atlantic since it was founded in 1996.
The judges took nearly five hours last night to decide on 'Property'. It is the sixth novel by Martin, 54, who lives in New york. Her best known work is 'Mary Reilly', the story of Dr Jekyll's maid.
The narrator of 'Property' is Manon Gaudet, who is unhappily married to the owner of a sugar plantation at a time of uprising. As a wedding present, she has been given a slave girl with whom her husband had an affair.