Alison Moore’s The Lighthouse shortlisted for 2012 Man Booker Prize
In an extraordinary year for Salt publishing, Alison Moore’s debut novel, The Lighthouse, published by the Cromer-based independent, has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012.
Alison Moore joins Tai Twan Eng, Deborah Levy, Hilary Mantel, Will Self and Jeet Thayil on the shortlist dominated by independent presses, the winner will be announced in October.
Moore reacted to the news, “Reaching the shortlist is ridiculously exciting. I keep feeling like I ought to stop daydreaming and get on with something, but it’s all real. I’m buzzing!”
“I’m so pleased for Alison and so proud of her,” says Salt editor Nicholas Royle. “It’s been clear for a couple of years what a brilliant short story writer she is. And now the secret is out – she is an equally brilliant novelist. She’s also wonderfully modest. She didn’t expect this. None of us expected this, although there’s no question she deserves it. I’d like to thank her for being such a pleasure to work with and Jen and Chris at Salt for their trust and support.”
Moore’s novel is a psychological examination of loss and rejection, centred on the collision of two characters, Futh, a newly divorced perfumier on a walking holiday and Ester, a German hotelier locked in a desperately unhappy marriage.
Total mega congrats!!!
Hey, congratulations Salt! This is such great news for the small and bravest publishers. Keep up the good work!
It’s great to see the indie’s doing so well in the Booker this year. They fly the flag of quality and adventurous business. I hope that the current publicity increases their profits too.