In an upset, 

the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK goes to...

US writer, A.M. Homes!

An often breathtakingly dark and crazy satire on modern American life caused a literary upset on Wednesday night when it won the women's prize for fiction beating novels by Zadie Smith, Kate Atkinson and the bookies' favorite, Hilary Mantel.

AM Homes became the fifth American in a row to be named winner of the £30,000 prize, formerly known as the Orange, for her sixth novel, May We Be Forgiven.

The actor Miranda Richardson, who chaired the judging panel, said the book went beyond the prize's criteria of originality, accessibility and excellence. "It was so fresh and so funny – darkly funny – and so unexpectedly moving," she said.  May We Be Forgiven has a devastating car crash, adultery and a murder within the space of the first 14 pages and then never lets up as it charts the increasingly out of control life of Harry, a middle-aged Richard Nixon studies professor.  Read the full article here.

Sounds like a perfect book club choice to me.

Come to the Merrick Library today to pick up your copy...before I do!