UK's Costa Book Awards finalist hails from T&T
Trinidad novelist Ingrid Persaud in the running for a big UK book prize
By Stephen Weir: UK’s Costa Book Awards finalists were just announced including Trinidad’s Ingrid Persaud. Her novel Love After Love is in the running for the annual 5,000£ prize for Top First Novel.
The Costa Book Awards are a set of annual literary awards in five categories recognising English-language books penned by writers based in Britain and Ireland.
A nominated author need not be a citizen to win the Prize. Persaud a writer in her 50s left Trinidad at the age of 18 to study and work in the UK. A late bloomer, She won both the 2017 Commonwealth short story prize and the 2018 BBC National short story award with The Sweep Sop.
Love After Love, her first full-length novel, is about an unconventional household in Trinidad. It tells the story of Trinidadian Betty Ramdin, who has suffered for years at the hands of her husband, an abusive drunk who “only gave love you could feel. He cuff you down? Honeymoon. He give you a black eye? True love in your tail.”
Widowhood saves Betty. After her husband’s death she takes in a lodger, Mr Chetan, a decent man who becomes Betty’s best friend as well as a father figure to her young son, Solo. They settle into a platonic partnership.
The First Novel Award Prize will be handed out on January 4th 2021. Persaud is up against 3 other novels by Michelle Gallen, Sairish Hussain and Karen Raney.
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