The Booker Prize 2024 winner has being announced and it's a real gem. Samantha Harvey, author of Orbital, receives £50,000 and a trophy named Iris (after winner Iris Murdoch).
Why Orbital is a worthy winner
I've been a big fan of Samantha Harvey's since her debut, Dear Thief, a hypnotic read about a woman who writes a letter to the best friend who betrayed her 18 years ago. She's since written four other novels; The Wilderness was previously long-listed for the Booker Prize in 2009.
Orbital, published in November last year, is her best book yet. This story of six astronauts living aboard the International Space Station is otherworldly and beautifully written. As the astronauts work collecting data, they circle the earth, spinning past continents, observing deserts, mountains and oceans, and begin see planet earth from a new perspective that makes them question the importance of humanity and our role. There is also much reflection on their lives at home and what they do and don't miss. As with all of Harvey's novel, it defies genres and would appeal to anyone who loves a thoughtful, thought-provoking read.
Edmund de Waal, Chair of the 2024 judges, says: "In an unforgettable year for fiction, a book about a wounded world. Sometimes you encounter a book and cannot work out how this miraculous event has happened. As judges we were determined to find a book that moved us, a book that had capaciousness and resonance, that we are compelled to share. We wanted everything.
"Orbital is our book. Samantha Harvey has written a novel propelled by the beauty of sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets. Everyone and no one is the subject, as six astronauts in the International Space Station circle the earth observing the passages of weather across the fragility of borders and time zones. With her language of lyricism and acuity Harvey makes our world strange and new for us."
The 2024 judging panel was chaired by artist and author Edmund de Waal, who is joined by award-winning novelist Sara Collins; Fiction Editor of the Guardian, Justine Jordan; world-renowned writer and professor Yiyun Li; and musician, composer and producer Nitin Sawhney.
