The 2020 Booker Prize

 

Thursday 19 November will see this year’s winner of the 2020 Booker prize announced from a shortlist of six titles, all of which are very much worth a read.  Let’s find out more about them:

The New Wilderness by Dianne Cook - A daring and imaginative debut novel that explores a moving mother-daughter relationship in a world ravaged by climate change and overpopulation, a suspenseful second book from the author of the acclaimed story collection, Man V. Nature.

This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga - In This Mournable Body, Dangarembga returns to the protagonist of her acclaimed first novel, Nervous Conditions, to examine how the hope and potential of a young girl and a fledgling nation can sour over time and become a bitter and floundering struggle for survival.

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi - This is both a love story and a story about betrayal between mother and daughter. Sharp as a blade and laced with caustic wit, Doshi tests the limits of what we can know for certain about those we are closest to, and by extension, about ourselves.

The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste - Set during Mussolini's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King takes us back to the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who were left out of the historical record. A heartrending exploration of what it means to be a woman at war.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city's notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings.

Real Life by Brandon Taylor - A novel of startling intimacy, violence, and mercy among friends in a Midwestern university town. The author asks if it's ever really possible to overcome our private wounds and buried histories—and at what cost.

Ar ddydd Iau 19 Tachwedd bydd enillydd gwobr Booker eleni’n cael eu cyhoeddi o restr fer o chwech o deitlau, pob un yn werth ei ddarllen. Gadewch i ni ddysgu mwy amdanyn nhw:

The New Wilderness gan Dianne Cook – Nofel gyntaf feiddgar a chreadigol sy’n edrych ar berthynas deimladwy mam a merch mewn byd wedi ei anrheithio gan newid yn yr hinsawdd a gorboblogaeth, ail lyfr afaelgar gan awdur y casgliad o storiâu, Man V. Nature.

This Mournable Body gan Tsitsi Dangarembga - Yn This Mournable Body mae Dangarembga yn dychwelyd at arwr ei nofel gyntaf gymeradwy, Nervous Conditions, i edrych  ar sut mae gobaith a photensial merch ifanc a chenedl newydd yn gallu suro dros amser a throi’n ymdrech chwerw a di-drefn i oroesi.

Burnt Sugar gan Avni Doshi - Dyma stori serch a stori am frad rhwng mam a merch. Yn finiog fel cyllell ac yn llawn ffraethineb pigog, mae Doshi’n gwthio ffiniau’r hyn y gallwn wybod i sicrwydd am y rheiny sydd agosaf atom ni a, thrwy hynny, amdanon ni’n hunain.

The Shadow King gan Maaza Mengiste - Wedi ei osod yn ystod cyrch Mussolini yn Ethiopia yn 1935, mae The Shadow King yn mynd â ni yn ôl at wrthdaro cyntaf yr Ail Ryfel Byd, gan daflu goleuni ar y milwyr o blith menywod a adawyd allan o’r cofnod hanesyddol.  Ystyriaeth ddirdynnol o beth yw ystyr bod yn fenyw ar adeg rhyfel.

Shuggie Bain gan Douglas Stuart - Stori fythgofiadwy yw Shuggie Bain am yr Hugh "Shuggie" Bain ifanc, bachgen hawddgar ac unig sy’n treulio’i blentyndod yn ystod yr 1980au mewn cartref adfeiliedig yn Glasgow, yr Alban. Mae polisïau Thatcher wedi achosi colli gwaith i ŵyr a meibion ac mae problem gyffuriau’r ddinas wrth law.

Real Life gan Brandon Taylor – Nofel o gyfathrach ryfeddol, trais a thrugaredd ymhlith ffrindiau  mewn tref prifysgol yng nghanolbarth gorllewinol yr Unol Daleithiau. Mae’r awdur yn gofyn a yw’n wir bosibl goresgyn ein creithiau preifat a’n hanes a gladdwyd – ac am ba gost.