Why Orbital by Samantha Harvey is a worthy Booker Prize 2024 winner
The Booker Prize 2024 winner has being announced and it's a real gem on this year's list. 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 writes a letter to the best friend who betrayed her 18 years ago. She's since written four others novel; The Wilderness was previously longlisted 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, and and observing deserts, mountains and oceans and begin see planet earth from a new perspective and begin to 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 looks a thoughtful, thought-provoking read.
The Booker Prize judges said: "It blurs the distinctions between borders, time zones and our own individual stories, provides a vantage point we haven’t encountered in fiction before, and is infused with such awe and reverence that it reads like a love letter, an act of worship. A brief yet miraculously expansive novel, it offers us a vision of our planet as borderless and interlinked, and makes the case for co-operation and respect for our shared humanity."
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.
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