Love And Other Thought Experiments is one of this year’s “Booker Dozen” selected from 162 novels
BY SOPHIE GRIFFITHS, IMAGE BY HEATHCLIFF O’MALLEY
Today, the Booker Prize for Fiction 2020 longlist has been announced, and here at DIVA, we couldn’t be more proud of our friend Sophie Ward for making the Booker Dozen.
The 2020 list is a celebration of diverse female writing, with women’s voices dominating nine places on the list of 13 books. Joining Sophie on the list this year are authors such as Hilary Mantel, Kiley Reid, Avni Doshi and Tsitsi Dangarembga.
The shortlist, comprised of six books, will be unveiled on 15 September. The winner of the 2020 Booker Prize will be announced in November.
Love And Other Thought Experiments was released in February earlier this year and is a “philosophical investigation into love, loss and the nature of reality.”
It comes as Sophie’s fiction debut after having a number of articles published in The Times, The Guardian, and DIVA, and short stories published in various anthologies throughout her glowing career.
Sophie Ward is an actor and writer, who has recently earned her degree in Philosophy and Literature and a PhD from Goldsmiths University.
She is best known for her role as Elizabeth Hardy, the love interest of Sherlock Holmes in Young Sherlock Homes, and for being the first British actress to come out publicly as a lesbian in the media in 1996.
Speaking exclusively to DIVA, Sophie Ward said: “I’m delighted, honoured, and amazed to be on the longlist for the Booker Prize with such a brilliant and diverse list of debut authors and literary heroes. I’m so grateful to the judges and to Laura MacDougall my agent at United and to Sarah Castleton my editor at Corsair. It takes a lot of people to make a book and the best of those are the readers.”
Margaret Busby, chair of the 2020 Booker Prize jury said: “Each of these books carries an impact that has earned it a place on the longlist, deserving of wide readership.”
“Included are novels carried by the sweep of history with memorable characters brought to life and given visibility, novels that represent a moment of cultural change, or the pressures an individual faces in pre – and post – dystopian society.
“Some of the books focus on interpersonal relationships that are complex, nuanced, emotionally charged. There are voices from minorities often unheard, stories that are fresh, bold and absorbing. The best fiction enables the reader to relate to other people’s lives; sharing experiences that we could not ourselves have imagined is as powerful as being able to identify with characters.”
Love And Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward is available to buy here.
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