American novelist Barbara Kingsolver has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for the second time with her latest novel that reimagines Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield in the American south.
Demon Copperhead was the unanimous choice of the judges to win the £30,000 prize and was praised for its treatment of life among the rural poor in modern-day America.
Chair of the judges Louise Minchin said Kingsolver, who won in 2010 for The Lacuna, had written “a towering, deeply powerful and significant book”.
She said: “In a year of outstanding fiction by women, we made a unanimous decision on Demon Copperhead as our winner. Brilliant and visceral, it is storytelling by an author at the top of her game.
“We were all deeply moved by Demon, his gentle optimism, resilience and determination despite everything being set against him.
“An exposé of modern America, its opioid crisis and the detrimental treatment of deprived and maligned communities, Demon Copperhead tackles universal themes – from addiction and poverty, to family, love, and the power of friendship and art – it packs a triumphant emotional punch, and it is a novel that will withstand the test of time.”
Kingsolver was presented with her prize and a figurine at an event in Bedford Square Garden.
Previous winners of the prize include Linda Grant, Maggie O’Farrell, Ali Smith and Andrea Levy.
Set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote fiction by women, the prize is awarded for the best full-length novel of the year written by a woman and published in the UK between April and March the following year.
Any woman writing in English – whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter – is eligible.
The Women’s Prize Trust – the UK charity which champions equity for women in the world of books – has recently announced the launch of the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction which will be awarded for the first time next year.
