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Four novels, three family memoirs and two Holocaust histories are among the books on the long list for this year’s Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize, announced today.
Twelve authors will compete for the £4,000 prize which recognises the best books - fiction or non fiction – to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader.
The works include Mr and Mrs Disraeli by Daisy Hay, an account of the Victorian prime minister’s relationship with his wife as told through their love letters; Zachary Leader’s Life of Saul Bellow, the first biography of the American novelist since his death in 2005, and The Hilltop by Assaf Gavron, a novel about a diplomatic scandal in a West Bank settlement.
Howard Jacobson’s novel J is on the list as are Nikolaus Wachsmann’s History of the Nazi Concentration Camps and Dan Stone’s The Liberation of the Camps, as well as Between Gods, Alison Pick’s memoir relating her quest to reconnect with her Jewish identity.
Head of the judging panel, writer Samantha Ellis, said: ‘Our long list includes novels exploring looted art, antisemitism and two very different glimpses of Israel. Non-fiction was particularly strong this year and makes up more than half of our list.
She and her fellow judges - columnist Hugo Rifkind, Granta top 20 young novelist Tahmima Anam and senior Masorti minister, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg – had found that the Holocaust was still the most important theme with writers wrestling with its legacy in new and powerful ways.
She said: “We were moved by the surprising response to exile, found that the complexities of life in Israel are inspiring some very searching fiction and were fascinated by the ways British-Jewish writers are navigating their identities on the page.
“Many of the books are deeply literary. All are urgent stories, told with passion and courage. We look forward to trying to select a short list; it won’t be easy.”
The short list is due to be announced next month. Previous winners of the prize have included Amos Oz, Zadie Smith, and Oliver Sacks.
The full long-list:
● The House of Twenty Thousand Books by Sasha Abramsky
● The Girl from Human Street by Roger Cohen
● The Hilltop by Assaf Gavron
● Ishmael’s Oranges by Claire Hajaj
● Mr and Mrs Disraeli by Daisy Hay
● J by Howard Jacobson
● The Life of Saul Bellow by Zachary Leader
● Between Gods by Alison Pick
● The Impossible Exile by George Prochnik
● The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
● The Liberation of the Camps by Dan Stone
● KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann
