Hello. I am one of five judges for The Golden man Booker Prize this year. It is a special one-off award to celebrate 50th anniversary of The Man Booker Prize and crowns the best work of fiction from the last five decades. The judges are ‘Robert McCrum (1970’s), Lemn Sissay (1980’s), Kamila Shamsie (1990’s), Simon Mayo (2000s) and Hollie McNish (to present)’. We have chosen our favourite from our given decade. I chose Moon Tiger by Penelope Liveley. There are four others chosen by the other judges.
And now it goes to public vote. Please vote for Moon Tiger. It hardly has a chance against (for example) Wolf Hall not because Moon Tiger isn’t a worthy winner because it is. It would lose against Wolf Hall on book sales and present popularity. Moon Tiger came out thirty one years ago. Moon Tiger is written by a woman about a woman. I think It was ahead of its time when it came out and its time is now. Clare Armitstead writes “tastes change, and if I were asked today for my 80s favourite, I think I would opt for Penelope Lively’s Moon Tiger, a wise and beautiful reconstruction of the memories of a dying writer.” Lucy Scholes of the independant has made public that she cast her vote for Moon tiger.
It is a hidden gem. The title alone displays the exquisite skill of Lively. Someting seemingly innocuous ( The Moon Tiger is an insect repellant) symbolises the life of the antiheroine. it also describes how the novel stays inside the reader “The Moon Tiger is a green coil that slowly burns all night, repelling mosquitoes, dropping away into lengths of grey ash, its glowing red eye a companion of the hot insect-rasping darkness.” It deserves a surge of votes. No. It deserves a tidal wave of votes. I urge you to vote for Penelope Lively’s Moon Tiger. The vote ends on June 26th