AM Homes wins Women's Prize for Fiction

So finally Hilary Mantel's winning streak has been broken. I always feel that the winner should always be "the best book" rather than "the best book but not by that frickin' woman who won last time". What's the point in winning something if the only reason you won was because someone else wasn't allowed to win. However, I think everyone feels a little sigh of relief that someone else can have some time in the limelight after Mantel's historic last year.

I've never read a novel by A.M. Homes so I couldn't pass judgement on whether or not she is a valid winner but what I can say is that she is an American author, originally from Washington DC who has written, I believe, 7 novels as well as many short stories and some non-fiction. She has also written for the American TV series, The L Word and has been working on her own television series, which she describes as "a cross between Desperate Housewives and Grapes of Wrath."

The novel she won with is called May We Be Forgiven:

Harry is a Richard Nixon scholar who leads a quiet, regular life; his brother George is a high-flying TV producer, with a murderous temper.They have been uneasy rivals since childhood.Then one day George's loses control so extravagantly that he precipitates Harry into an entirely new life. 

To learn a little more, I recommend watching AM Homes' interview with Jeanette Winterson. I could have regurgitated it all and pretended I am the almighty knower of all things fiction and AM Homes, but that is plagiarism and I'm pretty sure people who like books aren't massively keen on that so here you go: