A book focusing on the night Abraham Lincoln laid his 11-year-old son to rest in a Washington cemetery has won this year’s Man Booker Prize.
The Duchess of Cornwall presented the £50,000 literary prize to US novelist George Saunders for his book Lincoln In The Bardo, which details a grief-fuelled visit by the US statesman to his son’s crypt in 1862.
Saunders becomes the second American author to take home the Man Booker Prize in its 49-year history, after Paul Beatty came top last year with satirical novel The Sellout.
The judging panel deliberated for five hours on Tuesday – including spells of ‘fierce debate’ – before unanimously naming Saunders as the winner.
US author George Saunders (pictured) has won this year’s Man Booker Prize for his novel Lincoln In The Bardo. It tells the story of the former president’s grief-fulled visit to his 11-year-old son’s crypt in Washington in 1862
Baroness Lola Young, chair of the judges, said: ‘The form and style of this utterly original novel reveals a witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative.
‘This tale of the haunting and haunted souls in the afterlife of Abraham Lincoln’s young son paradoxically creates a vivid and lively evocation of the characters that populate this other world.
‘Lincoln In The Bardo is both rooted in and plays with history, and explores the meaning and experience of empathy.’
Baroness Young said it stood out for its ‘innovation’ and ‘very different styling’, adding: ‘It’s an extraordinary piece of work. It was unique.’
Saunders told Time magazine that he had not set out to write about the US statesman but was ‘captivated’ after hearing about Lincoln’s visit.
‘I thought of the book as a way of trying to instil the same reaction I’d had all those years ago,’ he said.
First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is recognised as one of the most prestigious in the literary world, with previous winners including Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan.
It is the fourth year the awards have been open to any writer regardless of nationality, provided the book was written originally in English and was published in the UK.
Commenting on the second consecutive American winner, Baroness Young said: ‘For us we don’t look at the nationality of the writer, honestly I can say that hand on heart.’
Saunders was one of three US authors to make it onto this year’s shortlist, alongside Paul Auster and Emily Fridlund. Pictured are all six finalists
She added: ‘We are solely concerned with the book, with what that book is telling us.’
Saunders was one of three US authors to make it onto this year’s shortlist, alongside Paul Auster for his work 4321, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and civil rights movement, and Emily Fridlund for History Of Wolves, which explores the effects of ‘neglectful’ parenting.
British writer Fiona Mozley, a part-time bookshop worker, was also shortlisted for the debut novel she began writing on her mobile phone on her way to work.
Seen through the eyes of a child, Elmet is the story of a moody, philosophical bare-knuckle fighter who brings up his children ‘in defiance of social norms’.
The novel, set in a Yorkshire copse, was described by judges as ‘timeless in its epic mixture of violence and love’.
Mozley wrote the first chapter as the landscape of her native Yorkshire whizzed past the window while travelling to London by train.
Scottish author Ali Smith was shortlisted for the fourth time, for this year for Autumn, a book ‘in part about Brexit’ telling the tale of a dying 101-year-old man being watched over by his closest friend.
British-Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid completed the shortlist for Exit West, which is about the movement of large numbers of people across the globe in search of freedom and those ‘caught up literally and metaphorically in crossfire’.
Lincoln in the Bardo was favourite to win, boasting odds of 11-8 with bookmakers William Hill.