Diane Abbott and Kathryn Faulke both shortlisted for 2025 Royal Society of Literature Christopher Bland Prize

Two Blake Friedmann authors, Diane Abbott and Kathryn Faulke, have made the shortlist for this year’s Christopher Bland Prize, awarded by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 prize recognises the best debut works, in any form or genre, by a writer over the age of 50, with previous winners including Raynor Winn (THE SALT PATH), Paterson Joseph (THE SECRET DIARIES OF CHARLES IGNATIOUS SANCHO) and last year’s honouree Chidi Ebere (NOW I AM HERE). The judges selecting the shortlist this year were Margaret Busby, Reverend Richard Coles and Jacqueline Wilson.

Diane is recognised for her memoir A WOMAN LIKE ME, a fierce, witty and moving account of her Windrush-generation family, and her journey from becoming the first elected Black female Member of Parliament in the UK, to her current position as Mother of the House. The book was named one of the best politics titles of 2024 by both Waterstones and The Sunday Times, and one of the best biographies of the year by The Guardian. ‘Her memoir is a lesson in brilliance, tenacity, activism & commitment to being a force for good in our country’, wrote RSL President Bernardine Evaristo, ‘buy the book, read about the struggles she's faced (you can imagine!) and be inspired by her incredible resilience and passion for politics’. The book was published in paperback by Penguin in March 2025, and is also available in audiobook, narrated by Diane herself.

Kathryn is shortlisted for EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE: A Journey Into the Heart of Carework, a vivid, poignant and unforgettable memoir recounting the author’s experiences as a careworker in London, celebrating humanity and compassion in the face of hardship. Serialised on BBC Radio 4 as their Book of the Week, Kathryn’s story has touched thousands with its warmth, humour and tenderness. ‘Not just essential reading for anyone curious about the realities of care work in this country; it’s also the work of a natural storyteller, and a book full of empathy, humour, and – yes – care,’ wrote Jon McGregor, author of IF NOBODY SPEAKS OF REMARKABLE THINGS; ‘this book is both beautiful and painful to read; beautiful because of its celebration of the human, but painful because we live in a time where caring is idealised but not rewarded or supported,’ agreed Gwen Adshead (THE DEVIL YOU KNOW). ‘This book is a compassionate invitation to get up close to the human condition and those who attend to it.’

On the announcement of the shortlisting, Kathryn Faulke said: ‘Words cannot begin to express how thrilled I am at learning that EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE has been shortlisted for the prestigious RSL Christopher Bland Prize. I am jumping for joy inside and out that a book about care, the profession I love, has been deemed worthy of such an honour. I have written all my life and to have this happen after all those writing years is just wonderful. I am deeply grateful.’

Also nominated for this year’s award are A BOOKSHOP OF ONE’S OWN by Jane Cholmeley, THE DIARIES OF MR LUCAS by Hugo Greenhalgh, THE PAGES OF THE SEA by Anne Hawk and TREES IN WINTER by Richard Shimell. The winner will be announced in an online event on Monday, 9 June 2025.

Congratulations Diane and Kathryn!

THE GHOSTS OF ROME by Joseph O’Connor shortlisted for the 2025 Kerry Group Novel of The Year award

THE GHOSTS OF ROME by Joseph O’Connor has been shortlisted for the esteemed 2025 Kerry Group Novel of The Year award.

The prize is the largest monetary prize for fiction available solely to an Irish author, with €20,000 awarded to the winner, and €500 to each of the shortlisted writers. Previous winners include SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE by Claire Keegan, MY NAME IS LEON by Kit de Waal and A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING by Eimear McBride.

The other shortlisted titles for this year’s prize are OUR LONDON LIVES by Christine Dwyer Hickey, HEART, BE AT PEACE by Donal Ryan, LONG ISLAND by Colm Tóibín and TIME OF THE CHILD by Niall Williams. The winner will be announced at the opening ceremony of the Listowel Writers’ Week in County Kerry on Wednesday 28th May.

Ned O’Sullivan, Chairperson of the Board of Listowel Writers’ Week, said, ‘Congratulations to the five shortlisted authors, your novels reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary Irish fiction, and we’re proud to honour your work here in Listowel.’

THE GHOSTS OF ROME is the second in Joseph O’Connor’s riveting Escape Line trilogy and was first published in hardback by Harvill Secker and Europa Editions in January 2025 to great acclaim. It immediately went to Number One in the Irish bestseller chart, and remains in the Irish Original Fiction Top Ten chart now.

The first novel in the trilogy, MY FATHER’S HOUSE, was also an Irish Number One bestseller and has now sold more than 100,000 copies in the English language. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and the Eason An Post Irish Novel of the year 2023, and also longlisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award. Film rights are optioned and translation rights are also sold in Brazil, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

About THE GHOSTS OF ROME:

February 1944. Six months since Nazi forces occupied Rome. Inside the beleaguered city, the Contessa Giovanna Landini is a member of the band of Escape Line activists known as ‘The Choir’. Their mission is to smuggle refugees to safety and help Allied soldiers, all under the nose of Gestapo boss Paul Hauptmann.

During a ferocious morning air raid a mysterious parachutist lands in Rome and disappears into the backstreets. Is he an ally or an imposter? His fate will come to put the whole Escape Line at risk.

Meanwhile, Hauptmann’s attention has landed on the Contessa. As his fascination grows, she is pulled into a dangerous game with him – one where the consequences could be lethal.

Joe is currently working on the next novel in the trilogy, to be published in the UK and the US in early 2027.

Photo credit: Urszula Soltys

About Joseph O’Connor

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin, where he still lives. THE GHOSTS OF ROME is his eleventh novel: he is also the author of film scripts, radio and stage plays, two collections of short stories, and several bestselling works of non-fiction.

2022 was the 20th anniversary of Joseph O’Connor’s novel STAR OF THE SEA which was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies in the UK alone and being published in 38 languages. It won France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Nielsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year.

His novel GHOST LIGHT was chosen as Dublin’s One City Book novel for 2011. Published in 2019, SHADOWPLAY, has won him extraordinary praise, was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, The Dalkey Novel Prize, the Costa Novel Prize, among others, and won him Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards. The French edition was shortlisted for the Jean Monnet Prize and the Vintage paperback was a Richard and Judy Winter 2020 pick.

He holds an honorary Doctorate in Literature from University College Dublin and received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2012. He is the Inaugural Frank McCourt Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.

Praise for THE GHOSTS OF ROME

‘THE GHOSTS OF ROME, Joseph O’Connor’s second novel in his projected trilogy about Rome under Nazi occupation, blazes with the imaginative flair and narrative energy that won its predecessor, MY FATHER’S HOUSE, high acclaim… There’s no slackening of tension, though, in the gripping account of wartime heroism, risk and resourcefulness this book continues. Jeopardy quivers through it… . The ugly stratum of Nazi oppression O’Connor’s novel graphically resurrects is packed with sensuously evoked reminders of Rome's rich past in this haunted and haunting novel.’ – Peter Kemp, The Sunday Times

‘O’Connor’s prose creates an extraordinary picture of Rome under Nazi control; brutal, chaotic, treacherous, decaying, wrecked and crumbling, and yet sometimes still bathed in glorious and unexpected light, literally and metaphorically. THE GHOSTS OF ROME is described as a sequel to MY FATHER’S HOUSE. The term is inadequate. Each can be read without reference to the other, but together they make a whole greater than the parts. An epic of war… O’Connor’s theme is not the world war in its widest sense, nor even the moral discomfort that is Vatican neutrality. Yet THE GHOSTS OF ROME make its own statement about these things. Focusing on people whose response to evil is only to act, he opens us to a humanity too urgent for debate and analysis.’ – Michael Russell, The Irish Times

‘The Choir’s attempts to rescue a grievously wounded Polish airman right under the nose of Gestapo commander Paul Hauptmann, who has been warned of the Fuhrer’s “intense displeasure” at his failure to eradicate the Escape Line, have a nail-bitingly tense “real time” feel to them. BBC interviews from the 1960s with former Choir members and fragments of an unpublished memoir give historical perspective and added pathos to this vivid and moving story, with O’Connor seamlessly combining real characters with imagined ones.’ – Laura Wilson, The Guardian, ‘The best recent crime and thrillers’

‘The power of THE GHOSTS OF ROME comes from the dazzling variety of voices employed, the sense of a world constructed in the multiple dimensions…  O’Connor has often been likened to the great Irish modernists for the lyricism of his voice-driven novels. But THE GHOSTS OF ROME also situates him within a broader European tradition of memory and moral reckoning, one that returns again and again to World War II. O’Connor embraces this legacy while transcending its cliches. His Rome is not merely a setting but a crucible, a city where the sacred and the profane collide, where resilience is forged in the shadow of ruins. By crafting a chorus of voices, he ensures that no single narrative dominates, reflecting the messy, multifaceted truths of history – the way it is lived and how it is constructed in retrospect. What emerges in not just a wartime thriller, though it is that, but a mediation on how we remember, how we resist and how, even in the darkest times, humanity endures.’ – Alex Preston, The New York Times

‘O’Connor has done his research with care, drawing on O’Flaherty’s unpublished letters, diaries and journalism. With his real people in place, the author spins a new tale of derring-do, recounted with the help of imagined interviews conducted many years later… O’Connor paints a lively picture of a city filled with Fascist police and German soldiers, some on furlough from the North, everyone watchful and hungry, the streets filthy, the black-market prices rising every day… THE GHOSTS OF ROME is both a tribute to the imagination and courage of his remarkable team and a riveting thriller.’ – Caroline Moorehead, The Times Literary Supplement

 Visit Joseph O’Connor’s website.

THE MEMORY OF US by Dani Atkins and FELICITY’S WAR by Jean Fullerton shortlisted for the RNA’s 2025 Romantic Novel Awards

THE MEMORY OF US by Dani Atkins and FELICITY’S WAR by Jean Fullerton have been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s 2025 Romantic Novel Awards – the former made The Romantic Thriller Award shortlist, while the latter was shortlisted for The Romantic Saga Award.

The RNA’s Romantic Novel of the Year Awards are presented annually, recognising and celebrating the very best in romantic fiction.  This year’s winners will be announced during the RNA’s Romantic Novel of the Year Awards ceremony at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City on 19th May.

Seána Talbot, the RNA chair, says: ‘This year’s shortlist is a tremendous testament to romantic fiction’s diversity and strength. We are proud to celebrate these outstanding books and this exciting mix of new and established writers. They make a vital contribution to this popular, much-loved genre.’

Sharon Ibbotson, the RNA Awards Coordinator, says: ‘Our reader-judges have once again chosen wonderful love stories as this year’s favourites, and their authors deserve their praise. Congratulations to all our finalists and thanks once again to our reader-judges – these awards wouldn’t happen without them.’

In THE MEMORY OF US (Head of Zeus) an accident leaves Amelia with memories of a love story that never existed. Lexi and Nick recreate them in the hopes of triggering the truth – but soon they start to fall for one another…

FELICITY’S WAR (Corvus) follows the recently heartbroken Fliss in wartime London. On a journalistic assignment she crosses paths with Detective Inspector Timothy Wallace – a man who shares her passion for truth and justice, though not her political beliefs. Despite their differences, an instant spark ignites between them. Can their blossoming romance endure the perils ahead?

Dani is already a recipient of three RNA Romantic Novel Awards, with THIS LOVE winning the Goldsboro Romantic Book of the Year Award 2018 and the Epic Novel of the Year Award 2018, A SKY FULL OF STARS winning the Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2022 and SIX DAYS winning the Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award in 2023.

Dani’s most recent novel, ALWAYS YOU AND ME, was published by Amazon Publishing earlier this month, and Jean’s next novel, THE EAST END GIRLS, is the start of an exciting new series with Bookouture and will be published in June.

Photo credit: Hannah Couzens

About Dani Atkins

Dani Atkins was born in London, and grew up in Cockfosters, Hertfordshire. She now lives in a 350-year-old cottage with her husband, one Siamese cat and a very soppy Border Collie.

Dani has been writing for fun all her life but, following the 2013 publication of her novel FRACTURED (Head of Zeus), she has made writing her full-time career. FRACTURED has since been published in sixteen languages and has sold more than half a million copies since first publication in the UK.

Praise for THE MEMORY OF US

‘A love story to get lost in – a beautifully written, gripping and moving novel about the lengths we will go to for the people who mean the most to us. Lexi and Nick's story felt timeless and unique all at once, and I was utterly captivated, from start to finish.’ – Holly Miller

‘Gripping, devastating and romantic – this book has it all. A tale of mystery, intrigue, despair and hope – but above all, of love.’ – Gillian Harvey

‘Wow. Atkins really understands her craft. This book has everything, heartache, passion and twists galore. She’s one of my favourite writers. Always delivers.’ – Jenny O’Brien

Follow Dani on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram

 About Jean Fullerton

Jean was born and bred in the overcrowded streets surrounding London Docks where her family have lived since 1825. Being born within the sound of Bow Bells, she’s a true cockney who grew up in what was then the working-class dockland community in Wapping and Stepney, East London. All her published books are set in the streets and alleyways she roamed as a child.

Jean worked for 30 years as a community nurse in East London, starting as a staff nurse and finishing as a university lecturer in Health Studies at London South Bank University.

Praise for Jean Fullerton

‘The queen of East End sagas’ – Elaine Everest

‘Warmth, humour and characters readers care about are Fullerton’s hallmarks.’ – Peterborough Evening Telegraph

‘A brilliant author who is not afraid of the truth’ – Geoffrey Harfield, Historical Novels Society

Visit Jean’s website

 Follow Jean on BlueSky and Instagram

RECIPES TO LIVE FOR by Sally Andrew shortlisted for the 2024 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards

Sally Andrew’s mouth-watering cookbook, RECIPES TO DIE LIVE FOR, has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2024 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in two categories – the Acknowledgements Award and Local Regions Award.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau. Every year, they honour the best food and wine books, printed or digital, as well as food-focused television. This year there are participants from 221 countries and regions, with 1250 nominations. The winners will be announced in an awards ceremony in June 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal.

The other titles that made the Acknowledgements Award shortlist are: DOOR73 by Eric Ivanidis and Marcelo Ballardin (Belgium); QUININE REMAINS by Townsend Middleton (India); LOS FERMENTOS DEL BOSQUE by Andrea Martin (Spain); NOODLES, RICE & EVERYTHING SPICE by Christina de Witte and Mallika Kruppinen (Thailand). The other titles nominated for the Local Regions Award are: DEL GARUM AL LIMONCELLO by Enzio Falcone (Italy); COMERES RAJANOS, COCINAS RAYANAS edited by Confraria Gastronómica do Alentejo (Portugal); LAGOM SVENSK by Louise Bondebjer (Sweden); EAT LOCAL: BUENGKAN by Suthipong Suriya (Thailand) and REGIONAL COOKING OF ENGLAND by Carol Wilson (UK).

RECIPES TO DIE LIVE FOR features recipes from Sally Andrew’s beloved Tannie Maria murder mystery series, as well as some tantalising new additions, all seasoned with beautiful photographs of the food and the South African landscape. Spiced with enjoyable sayings from the four bestselling novels, as well as letters written to ‘Tannie Maria’s Love Advice and Recipe Column’, RECIPES TO DIE LIVE FOR is as warm and witty as Tannie Maria herself, guaranteed to delight fans and newcomers to the series.

Many of the dishes are slow foods and traditional South African recipes, but there are also quick meals and new inventions, from nachos to spekboom ice cream. Whether you are craving a Karoo lamb pie or sweet melktert or a syrupy koeksister, you’ll find something to discover and savour among Tannie Maria’s culinary delights.

The Tannie Maria murder mystery series was recently adapted into an acclaimed television series, RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER. Season Two will be released in 2025.  Amongst other accolades, it was shortlisted in the Comedy Drama and Sitcom category at the Rose d’Or Awards and is now available to watch on terrestrial television in the UK.

Sally is currently working on the next novel in the Tannie Maria series.

About Sally Andrew

Sally Andrew divides her time between Muizenberg on the Cape Town coast and a nature reserve near Ladismith in the Klein Karoo, South Africa, where she lives with her artist partner and various wildlife (including a giant eland and a secretive leopard). Sally has published a number of non-fiction books on adult and environmental education.

Her first novel, RECIPES FOR LOVE & MURDER: A Tannie Maria Mystery was a Kirkus Best Book of 2015, A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book 2015, The Bookseller Fiction editor’s Choice 2015 and A Good Housekeeping Book of the Month. She is now writing the fifth book in the bestselling series.

Praise for Sally Andrew’s Tannie Maria mystery series

‘If you want a vivid, amusing and immensely enjoyable read about detection (and cooking) in an intriguing part of southern Africa, then this is the book for you. A triumph.’ – Alexander McCall Smith

‘Utterly delicious, to the very last morsel.’ – Deon Meyer

‘Chock full of good food and interesting characters.’ – Kerry Greenwood, author of the PHRYNE FISHER and CORINNA CHAPMAN series

‘Murder mysteries, good food, and South African anecdotes make the perfect recipe for a murder mystery series. These books follow Tannie Maria, a recipe writer turned true crime fighter, as she solves mysteries. With an average of 4/5 stars on Goodreads, you can bet that these funny and charming books are well worth adding to your TBR.’ – Jade McGee, Woman & Home

 Visit Sally’s website.

 Follow Sally on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram.

Sheila O’Flanagan shortlisted for the 2024 Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year Award

International bestselling novelist Sheila O’Flanagan has been shortlisted for the 2024 Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year Award. Part of the An Post Irish Book Awards, the Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year Award is given to an Irish author whose works contributed significantly to the reader experience and enjoyment of Irish books during 2024, as nominated by librarians and library book club members. Previous winners include Claire Keegan and John Boyne.

The other authors on this year’s shortlist are as follows: Eoin Colfer, Sally Rooney, Donal Ryan, Jo Spain and Colm Tóibín. The winner will be announced at a gala dinner at the Convention Centre in Dublin on 27th November 2024 and you can take part in the voting process here.

Larry Mac Hale, Chairperson of the An Post Irish Book Awards, says: ‘The shortlist for this year’s An Post Irish Book Awards is, once again, remarkable, showcasing the immense talent of Irish writers and the strength of our literary community. Each category highlights exceptional writing, with well deserving authors, publishers, illustrators, and booksellers being recognised.’

Previously Sheila won the Popular Fiction Book of the Year Award in 2011 for her novel ALL FOR YOU, and had THREE WEDDINGS AND A PROPOSAL and WHAT EDEN DID NEXT shortlisted for the same prize in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

Photo credit: Bill Waters

About Sheila O’Flanagan

Sheila O’Flanagan is an international bestselling novelist, with more than 9 million copies sold. Most of her novels have been immediate and long-lasting No 1s in Ireland, UK Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers and Kindle Bestsellers, and she is published in more than twenty languages around the world. She is the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year Award.

Praise for Sheila O’Flanagan

‘One of my favourite authors’ – Marian Keyes

‘One of our best-known, best-loved and most prolific women’s fiction authors’ – Irish Independent

‘Reading a Sheila O'Flanagan novel always feels like sitting down for a cup of tea with a friend – she writes with such warmth and empathy.’ – Beth O’Leary, author of THE FLATSHARE

 ‘Sheila writes with such verve and positivity and emotional intelligence.’ – Veronica Henry

 Visit Sheila’s website.

 Follow Sheila on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram.