Three first-time novelists tackling macabre subjects – the aftermath of conflict in the Balkans, a love affair in a mental institution, and the story of a hermaphrodite baby called Wayne – feature in this year's shortlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Téa Obreht's The Tiger's Wife, Emma Henderson's Grace Williams Says It Loud, and Kathleen Winter's Annabel made the shortlist announced yesterday for the £30,000 prize for women writers.
They join Emma Donoghue's Room – the tale of a five-year-old boy held in captivity – The Memory of Love – a Sierra Leone love story by Aminatta Forna – and the sprawling cross-continental narrative of Great House by Nicole Krauss.
"It's a very interesting line-up," said Donoghue, the bookies' favourite. "It's still important to be up for awards like this. I've bought several books including Valerie Martin's Property, which won the prize in 2003, because of their association with it. The list of previous winners, including Lionel Shriver and Zadie Smith, is very strong; that's what gives it the glamour."
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