Reflections on Oxford Street

A splendid evening yesterday, spent with two daughters. It was nice for it to be just the three of us for once. We went to the Bailey's Prize Shortlisted Authors' Readings at the Southbank Centre. A fine event, brilliantly chaired by Shami Chakrabarti. (When the only five questions from the audience turned out to be the craziest questions ever she just simply said - well, I don't think we'll do questions. Then she asked each of the authors to say something and if they wanted to answer a question they could do - or not. Not many people could have pulled that off. The authors were given free rein to offer witty comments that revealed a lot about themselves and ended the evening perfectly.) Then we went to Brasserie Blanc for a lovely meal.

Today - brunch, a trip down Oxford Street and then I returned to Kings Cross for the journey home.

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The Bailey's Prize for Women's Fiction will be awarded tonight. I managed to read the six shortlisted books (listed below) and now, having heard the authors themselves, I offer, for those interested, a few of my own personal thoughts. These are definitely my own thoughts and I would be really interested in the views of anyone who has read any of them.

The Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world.

Anne Tyler: A Spool of Blue Thread
Ali Smith: How to be Both
Laline Paul: The Bees
Sarah Waters: The Paying Guests
Kamila Shamsie – A God in Every Stone
Rachel Cusk: outline

Cusk - an original and readable book, but I'm not sure whether it really adds up to much. A disappointing book.

Tyler - I found this tedious, but then this is the first Tyler I have managed to finish. Not my kind of book and I would say not at all original.

Shamsie - a many-layered epic of historical fiction. I loved it. Complex, both in terms of the historical and political events and the archaeology. But ultimately satisfying. I don't think it will win, as it can be criticised for being too complex, but I would like to see its ambition and scope recognised.

Waters - I enjoyed this, but then I've only just discovered her and am enjoying her story-telling skills enormously. It's a satisfying book with a beginning, a middle and an end and plenty of thrills and spills and page turning moments. Favourite to win, but I'm not sure it will.

Paul - Well, this is certainly original! It's about bees. Think - Animal Farm but in a hive! I found it hard to reconcile the human characteristic with the lives of bees and kept thinking 'Do bees really do that?' But in the end it's a well-written well-told story that everyone should read, especially if you have an interest in bees! I have a feeling this could be the winner, possibly.

And finally - Ali Smith
My choice without a doubt.
I love this book. I enjoyed it the first time when it was short-listed for the Booker and narrowly missed out. I'm enjoying it again now. It's original, ambitious, funny, very witty, emotionally charged, brilliantly written and yet also readable (once you figure out what is going on). Her reading from it last night was astounding. In my opinion it outshines all the others. This should be the winner, but it has been around a while and the Women's Prize does like to be a bit different, so I'm not sure. I would definitely choose it. 

Summary
I enjoyed Ali Smith, Sarah Waters and Kamila Shamsie. I am not sure what to make of the Bees.
I couldn't quite see the point of Cusk. And I found the Anne Tyler tedious.

I would recommend everyone to read The Bees, mainly because I want to know what others think about it and it is an important book. If you like Sarah Waters, you will love Paying Guests. The Ali Smith is a bit of a challenge, but if you are prepared for that I think it is a remarkable book.

I definitely think the Ali Smith should win, for the originality and the quality of the writing, but the Sarah Waters is favourite to win and I wouldn't be too upset if they actually chose that. However I have a feeling they might go for The Bees, just for its sheer originality.