Miller’s novel Pure bags Costa award
British novelist Andrew Miller has won the £30,000 Costa Book of the Year award for his novel, Pure, set in pre-revolutionary Paris in 1785.
Bristol-born 51-year-old Miller was handed the prize money at an awards ceremony held at Quaglino’s in central London on Tuesday night.
Miller’s Pure had beaten Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending in for the best novel category. The Costa Awards are unique in awarding books in five categories
The Costa Awards, formerly known as the Whitbread Book Awards, are unique in giving prizes for best novel, first novel, biography, poetry and children’s book. An overall Costa Book of the Year is selected from the winners of these five categories. Each category has four shortlisted books and the winner in each receives £5,000.
This year, the shortlist included debut author and former paediatric nurse Christie Watson’s Tiny Sunbirds Far Away; debut biographer and poet Matthew Hollis’ All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas; British Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry collection, The Bees; and former opera singer and debut children’s writer, Moira Young’s Blood Red Road.
The Costa Book of the Year award was won last year by London poet Jo Shapcott for her poetry collection, Of Mutability, which deals with her experience of breast cancer.
Journalist-editor Geo-rdie Greig chaired a final judging panel that included actor and comedian Hugh Dennis, actress Dervla Kirwan, broadcaster Mary Nightingale, novelist Patrick Gale, author Jojo Moyes, historical biographer Flora Fraser, author William Fiennes and children’s writer Eleanor Updale.
Miller beat bookmakers’ odds-on favourite, poet and debut biographer Matthew Hollis and the jury chair admitted that the judging panel had been bitterly divided over the choice of the final winner. “It really was a fierce debate and there was quite bitter dissent and argument to find the winner,” he said, but didn’t reveal the numbers and said that it was resolved in the end.
Miller, who is based in Somerset and has written five novels before this, said he would use the prize money for the daily expenses.
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