Percival Everett and Samantha Harvey are the bookies’ favourites to win the 2024 Booker prize.
American author Everett was Ladbrokes’ frontrunner before the company closed bets on Monday morning, with 2/1 odds of taking home the £50,000 award for his novel James – a reimagining of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim.
William Hill assigns 2/1 odds to both Everett and British writer Harvey for her novel Orbital, which follows six astronauts onboard the International Space Station. Ladbrokes placed Harvey just behind Everett with 5/2 odds.
Harvey leads on sales ahead of the announcement of the winner on Tuesday evening, with almost 29,000 copies of Orbital having been sold this year in the UK, according to The Bookseller. It is the shortest book on the shortlist at 136 pages, and one of only two available in paperback, alongside Held by Anne Michaels.
Following Everett and Harvey with odds of 9/2 at William Hill is Rachel Kushner for her novel Creation Lake, narrated by an American spy who infiltrates an eco-activist commune in France. The novel has sold 8,300 copies in the UK so far, though it was only published on 5 September, later than the rest of the shortlist.
Ladbrokes gave 5/1 odds to both Kushner and Canadian poet and novelist Michaels for Held. The company had given Michaels the longest odds at 8/1, but they were cut over the weekend.
Held explores themes of trauma, grief and memory, moving back and forward in time and place, from a battlefield in first world war France to North Yorkshire and elsewhere. William Hill still has Michaels as the outsider, with odds of 7/1. The book has sold nearly 11,000 copies in the UK across its paperback and hardback editions.
“With just hours to go until this year’s Booker Prize winner is crowned, the betting is closer than ever”, says Alex Apati of Ladbrokes. “While Percival Everett’s James continues to head the betting, there’s been some late interest in Held by Anne Michaels, and we’ve trimmed her odds as a result”.
Following Orbital, James is the second bestselling title from the list, with a little over 21,000 copies sold in the UK so far.
Charlotte Wood, the Australian author of Stone Yard Devotional, was given relatively long odds, with 11/2 at William Hill and 6/1 at Ladbrokes. Her novel follows a woman who leaves Sydney for a small religious community in the Australian outback. The book has seen the lowest sales of all the shortlisted titles, with 4,000 copies sold in the UK.
The only debut novel on the shortlist, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, was deemed the outsider by Ladbrokes before bets closed, at 7/1. The novel looks at the treatment of Jews in postwar Netherlands through a family drama. At William Hill, it sees odds of 11/2. Almost 10,000 copies have been sold in the UK.
Bookmakers’ favourites have often prevailed in recent years. Last year’s winner Paul Lynch had been Ladbrokes’ joint favourite with his dystopian novel Prophet Song. In 2021, the company’s frontrunner Damon Galgut ended up taking home the prize, as did their favourite George Saunders in 2017.
On Wednesday, the Booker prize and Waterstones are due to launch the “Booker Library” at the chain’s Piccadilly branch. The pop-up shop will feature more than 600 books that have previously been nominated for or won the Booker prize or International Booker prize, marking the first time that readers can browse the Booker backlist in one place.
Explore the shortlist for this year’s Booker prize and, for a limited time, get all six books for only £70 at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
