Welcome to Litsy!

And the Women‘s Prize winners are in! Both really worthy books (and thank goodness The Safekeep won for fiction, given what else was on the list). I‘m sad for Agent Zo, but The Story of a Heart is such a compassionate, beautifully crafted book that I cannot fault its choosing. #wp25

Today‘s the big day for the Women‘s Prize! I know I‘m not alone in being underwhelmed by the fiction list, but here are the 6 finalists. I want to see The Safekeep take this one, but I‘d be happy with Fundamentally as well. I‘m about halfway through The Persians and it‘s fine, but I don‘t find it prize worthy. And if any of the 3 at the bottom win, I shall be very cross (especially that awful one in the middle). #wp25

A young journalist in 1920 manages to get invited to the home of a reclusive, famous painter to write an article. From there we learn about the artist and his niece as well as the journalist‘s own story. I really liked this and think it‘s far better than at least half the #WP25 shortlist.

I tried, but this one is not for me. I don‘t like the writing or the voice and based on other reviews, it doesn‘t look like those will change, so I‘m out. #WP25 longlist

I wasn‘t a fan of An Island and so would not have read this if not for the #WP25 longlist, so color me surprised that I enjoyed it. It is a portrait of a selfish, self-pitying woman who I think the reader gradually comes to see we all have a bit of inside us. She‘s unlikable, of course, and we gradually come to understand her a bit by the end. I do think this is worthy of the list.

This book follows four African women who are connected to each other in various ways, exploring the reality of being a woman and all the indignities that can be pushed on a woman‘s body (including sexual assault on the page). The writing is very good overall but a bit uneven and the start of the third woman‘s story was so dense I was thrown in a bad way. Good but not great. #WP25 longlist

Finally, a book on the #WP25 shortlist I actually like! (I loved The Safekeep, but read it well before the longlist dropped.) This one follows an idealistic young Muslim British woman who goes to Iraq with a UN program in the hopes of repatriating ISIS brides. It balances the heavier content with snarky good humor and looks at how our own expectations can be blinding.

I am beyond frustrated by this book. It has such rich material—fish out of water, racism, stranger in your own land—and it‘s just kind of a mess. Plus, there‘s an explosive event near the end that was so gripping, I really wish the book had been set around it, but instead it‘s squandered. What is this doing on the #WP25 short (or long) list?

I very much enjoyed this #WP25 longlist book. It‘s a quiet story about Rosa‘s life. Born in Poland wheee she witnesses the pogrom in which her family is killed. She somehow arrives in Scotland where she is adopted and lives her life. She goes through all the stages a woman goes, she‘s happy and sad, with friends and family or lonely. And yet in the back of her mind there‘s always her family, brutally murdered.

I am okay with this #WP25 shortlist. I didn‘t read Good Girl, all others I liked except for The Persians. I am rooting for The Safekeep to win the prize.
What are your thoughts on the shortlist?