Hilary Mantel wins second Booker Prize

17 Oct 2012, 9:09 am   -   Source: AAP
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Hilary Mantel has joined the exclusive club of Peter Carey and J.M. Coetzee by winning the Man Booker Prize for the second time.

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Hilary Mantel has become the first British writer to win the Man Booker Prize for Fiction twice after her novel Bring up the Bodies was named the best book of the year.

The 60-year-old writer, who won in 2009 for the first part of her historical trilogy, Wolf Hall, was named the winner at a ceremony in central London on Tuesday night.

Accepting her prize she said: "Well I don't know, you wait 20 years for a Booker Prize and two come along at once."

She added that she regarded the award as an "act of faith and a vote of confidence".

Peter Stothard, who chaired the judging panel, said the book, which forms the second part of Mantel's trilogy on the life of Thomas Cromwell, "utterly surpassed" the first volume.

He said: "She uses her art, her power of prose, to create moral ambiguity and the real uncertainty of political life, political life then and the pale imitation of political life now".

He said the book, which concentrates on the end of Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn, had made "one of the best-known pieces of English history" come alive again "as though for the first time".

Sir Peter compared the work to that of novelist DH Lawrence and likened Cromwell to the main character in Mario Puzo's Godfather books.

He said: "I think you could see if you're looking to compare it, you could see as much Don Corleone in this book as DH Lawrence.

"There is certainly a Godfather element to this book, including the moral ambiguity of the Don Corleone Cromwell figure."

The judges, who included Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens, spent just over two hours making their decision in what Sir Peter described as a "rigorous process of literary criticism".

Mantel received a cheque for STG50,000 (about $A78,920) at the event at Guildhall after seeing off competition from five other contenders, including journalist and novelist Will Self's book Umbrella, which had been among the favourites to win.

Also in the running was Swimming Home by Deborah Levy, a novel which was originally rejected by traditional publishers.

Two of the books on the list were debut novels - 53-year-old Indian performance poet, songwriter and guitarist Jeet Thayil's Narcopolis and Manchester-born Alison Moore's The Lighthouse.

The sixth book was The Garden Of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, about the survivor of a Second World War Japanese prison camp.

Jonathan Ruppin, Web Editor at Foyles bookshops, said the win confirmed Mantel as "essential reading".

He said: "Mantel has been writing superb fiction for much longer than she has been winning major awards, so many readers will soon discover that she is their new favourite author.

"There is every possibility she might pull off a unique treble when she completes the trilogy."

The win will certainly boost her sales. Last year's winner, The Sense Of An Ending by Julian Barnes, has sold more than 300,000 print editions in the UK.

Only Peter Carey, an Australian, and the South African J.M. Coetzee have won the prestigious prize twice before.

Both books in the trilogy are being televised by the BBC.

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