Jonathan Barnes

Jonathan Barnes on Five First Novels

  • Stephen Kelman, 
  • Yvette Edwards, 
  • Anna Funder, 
  • Helen Gordon, 
  • Teju Cole

This year’s longlist for the Man Booker prize is an unusually intriguing one. Alongside commendations for such established writers as Alan Hollinghurst and Julian Barnes is a surprisingly healthy amount of what publishers might designate as ‘genre fiction’ (D J Taylor’s Derby Day; A D Miller’s Snowdrops) as well as an encouraging number of first novels.

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