Orange Prize 2009

Here's the Orange Prize longlist for this year's award.

http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/show/feature/orange-prize-2009-longlist

Debra Adelaide, The Household Guide to Dying
Gaynor Arnold, Girl in a Blue Dress
Lissa Evans, Their Finest Hour and a Half
Bernadine Evaristo, Blonde Roots
Ellen Feldman, Scottsboro
Laura Fish, Strange Music
V.V. Ganeshananthan, Love Marriage
Allegra Goodman, Intuition
Samantha Harvey, The Wilderness
Samantha Hunt, The Invention of Everything Else
Michelle de Kretser, The Lost Dog
Deirdre Madden, Molly Fox’s Birthday
Toni Morrison, A Mercy
Gina Ochsner, The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight
Marilynne Robinson, Home
Preeta Samarasan, Evening is the Whole Day
Kamila Shamsie, Burnt Shadows
Curtis Sittenfeld, American Wife
Miriam Toews, The Flying Troutmans
Ann Weisgarber, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree

Have you read any of these; if so, what did you think? Have any in the TBR pile already? Future purchases? (the OP website link above takes you to the page where you can read the synopses for all the nominated books). Are there any glaring omissions?

(There is also discussion on The Prizes group HERE.
Apologies, I didn't do touchstones.

I've read A Mercy and thought it quite good. I've also read Intuition by Allegra Goodman, another good read. The latter came out here in the states in 1996. It's about one woman's suspicions that her colleague has fudged his data, and how her life is changed because of it. It illuminates the scientific process and the very human people who work there.

I don't think anyone could get me to read American Wife. I'm just not ready to revisit anyone connected to the previous administration. But that's just me. I didn't care for Gilead (it's possible I was just overdosed with the man-reflects-on-his-life theme, having read several others around the same time), so I didn't run out for the new one.

Wasn't there a new Louise Erdrich and Julia Glass this year?

The Girl in the Blue Dress is on my TBR list, it was also long-listed for the Mann Booker in 2008. I'm looking forward to it. Intuition unfortunately, doesnt sound like fiction, I've known too many people in science who are Very human. Well said avaland!

Looking forward to discovering all the gems on the list this year :-)

2> You mean I'm not the only one who disliked Gilead? (Boring and way overhyped, in my opinion.)

Yes, there were new books by both Erdrich and Glass--but maybe not published in the UK yet?

I have a review copy of Burnt Shadows on the way, and I've read excerpts of both Intuition and A Mercy. A few others have been on my wish list for awhile (The Invention of Everything, Girl in a Blue Dress).

Thanks for posting list. I do not have any of these books, yet:))

I have also read Intuition and found it very compelling.

Avaland, I truly enjoyed An American Wife even though my political leanings couldn't be more different than those of the administration described. I had trouble putting it down!

I concur with the posts thus far about Gilead. I typically don't mind a slow read, but I just found this story boring. Hate to say it.

>6 Lcwilson45: re: Intuition. I think it's good for several reasons to see women in settings like this. It's one of the reasons I was drawn to it.

I haven't read any of the nominees, but I did like Gilead. I listened to it on audio and the reader was wonderful. He was telling his story with such love and thoughtfulness. Maybe that made the difference to me. I have so far avoided the Toews book, as I didn't love her last one - A complicated Kindness which also got rave reviews, so I though I just didn't like her type of book. Maybe I'll give it a shot but I'm not rushing.

Just had a quick look at the blurbs on the 2009 OP site and these ones sparked my interest:
Bernadine Evaristo, Blonde Roots
Laura Fish, Strange Music touchstone doesn't work
Samantha Hunt, The Invention of Everything Else
Kamila Shamsie, Burnt Shadowstouchstone doesn't work

And just realised that I'm on bookrings for these two:
Michelle de Kretser, The Lost Dog
Debra Adelaide, The Household Guide to Dying
as well as this one:
Gaynor Arnold, Girl in a Blue Dress

These long-lists always make me so excited, like a kid in a lolly shop :-)

Surprise, surprise, I have read the two Australian ones :)

I REAlly liked The Household Guide to Dying; but was a bit ambivalent about The Lost Dog. I am keen to read the ones by Arnold, Toews and Samarasan, but not quite so excited about Home. I did like Gilead but I think I had to be in a "certain" mood to appreciate it. And I'm with you avaland, I have no interest whatsoever in American Wife.

I haven't read any of these but am quite excited about the Gina Ochsner because I loved her short story collection People I Wanted to be and didn't know she'd written a novel.

I've read Love Marriage (I got it as an Early Reviewer copy), and American Wife. I really enjoyed American Wife. It is based on the life of Laura Bush, but I don't think it is meant to be a fictionalized account of her life exactly, but more of a fictional investigation of some of the seeming contradictions in her life (middle class, Democrat school librarian, marrying the scion of a rich Republican family who is into politics). It was very thought-provoking. Love Marriage was good, but the end was not much. It would have been a lot better if there had been more of a conclusion.

I was eyeing The Household Guide to Dying in the bookstore over lunch today; I know I will get it soon. I need to print out the rest of the list and look at some of the other books, too.

I have just borrowed Intuition and The Household Guide to Dying from the library. Will report back with my thoughts!

I'm only up to chapter 2 of Intuition (touchstone not working) but am thinking of abandoning it. I just can't get into the writing style which is a bit more "mass market paperback" than I'd expect from an Orange nominee.

An example,
"He'd chosen her for her fierce intelligence, her passion for discovery, her ambition- and of course, Glass had always liked a beautiful postdoc. Robin's eyes were a warm brown, brilliant under pale lashes. her blond hair silken..."

Ho hum. Those of you who have read this book, should I persevere with it?

Pardon me for saying it, but it reminds me of cheap romance novels (and I stress the 'cheap'!)

Ick.

Today's the shortlist day isn't it??

eta: oops, no, it's tomorrow.

The shortlist

Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman (Picador)

The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey (Cape)

The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (Harvill Secker)

Molly Fox's Birthday by Deidre Madden (Faber)

Home by Marilynne Robinson (Virago)

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/21/orange-prize-shortlist-harvey

Gotta love touchstones! The above link for The Wilderness actually leads to a book called Into the Wilderness. This page lists the author as Rosina Lippi, but the cover illustration (and reviews) refer to author Sara Donati - yikes!

I'd hoped to provide a new link, but I can't get touchstones to load at all today - oh well.

#18> valerie2, Rosina Lippi and Sara Donati are one and the same person.

#18,
Sorry about that Valerie. I've adjusted the touchstone above so it goes to the right link!

#19> aha - that clears up my confusion!

#20> excellent - thanks for the new link