Hilary Mantel: I am 'disappointed but freed' by Booker decision
Two-time Booker prize winner Hilary Mantel has said that she is “disappointed” but “freed” after not making this year’s shortlist, congratulating the six authors now in competition for the £50,000 prize.
Mantel, who won the prize for the first two novels in her historical trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, had been tipped to win a third time for the final volume, The Mirror and the Light. But judges for this year’s prize instead selected four debuts, by Diane Cook, Avni Doshi, Douglas Stuart and Brandon Taylor alongside new novels from Tsitsi Dangarembga and Maaza Mengiste. After announcing the lineup, judge and novelist Lee Child said The Mirror and the Light was “an absolutely wonderful novel, there’s no question about it”, but “as good as it was, there were some books which were better”.
“I respect the judges’ decision because I’ve been a judge and it’s very hard. I accept that books are born in a certain cultural moment. They surf on the tide of the times. In some ways I feel freed, too. I think the trilogy is built to last,” Mantel told the Guardian. “There’s nothing I can say except to congratulate everyone on the shortlist.”
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald this week, Mantel was philosophical about missing out. “Naturally, I’m disappointed but you can’t second guess the judges. I am sure they had a huge range of excellent novels to choose from and I make no complaint,” she said.
The announcement of the lineup, she said, meant the Booker was “something I could draw a line under and I could say, right, that’s over, here’s a new phase. Although disappointing on one level it was quite freeing on one level.”
For Mantel, who is currently adapting The Mirror and the Light for the stage, and will publish a collection of essays, Mantel Pieces, in October, the conclusion to her trilogy was “the most complex” of the three. “It was the hardest to write and it’s probably the most demanding for the reader but of course that’s just my opinion of it,” she told the SMH.
She added that she would “prefer the judges to keep their cards close to their chest” when it comes to discussing individual titles.
“It is up to the judges whether they talk about it outside of the meeting room; personally I never did. While I was a judge, I made no comment on any of the books that were under consideration but many years have passed since and obviously there is fresh thinking,” she said.
This year’s chair of the Booker judges, the publisher Margaret Busby, has stressed the importance of diversity, saying that this year’s shortlist “has allowed us to luxuriate in skilful storytelling and to be surprised by what unheard voices have to articulate”. Last year’s winner, Bernardine Evaristo, also praised the choices, saying that “if you’re looking for fresh perspectives and narratives, surely you’re going to find it among the most underrepresented voices”. But the Times said that the prize “no longer sees its prime purpose as a guide to the best novels published in Britain over the past year”, criticising judges for being “more interested in launching new voices or amplifying writers from backgrounds far from its Hampstead reputation”.
With all the shortlisted authors apart from Dangarembga either being from the US or holding joint US citizenship, Mantel said the 2014 rule change to allow any author writing in English to enter had led to “an infusion of fresh energy”, and that Commonwealth writers should not be afraid of the competition. Previously only open to Commonwealth writers, some in the UK publishing industry have warned that the change has led to the domination of US authors.
Mantel also questioned the idea of the Booker being judged blind, which has been floated in the past. “If it was a book about Thomas Cromwell, I think they would know it is me and to be honest if the judges just couldn’t pick the authors, I wouldn’t think very much of their literary acumen,” she told the SMH. “It might work for first novel prizes but people do tend to develop distinctive voices and of course it might lead to mischievous writers imitating each other. I bet quite a few of us could knock off a Martin Amis.”
She said she was unlikely to be watching when the Booker winner was announced on 17 November. “I probably won’t think about it to be honest,” she said. “I mean, I am very pleased for the writers who are on the shortlist. It is a new beginning for them, but I have plenty of projects in me. If I’ve got the energy to carry them through, I am certainly not short of ideas.”
