Coco Mellors
Age: 36
Nationality: American (though she grew up in London)
Famous for: Cleopatra & Frankenstein and Blue Sisters.
Reviewers say of Cleopatra & Frankenstein: ‘A stylish novel about an impulsive marriage.’ (The Guardian)
Fun fact: Cleopatra & Frankenstein, Mellors’s debut, is being adapted for TV by Warner Bros.
Clare Chambers
Age: 59
Nationality: British
Famous for: Small Pleasures but it is actually one of 10 novels.
Reviewers say: ‘Chambers’ dialogue is particularly strong, as is the precise study of human interactions in all their subtlety and shades.’ (Financial Times)
Fun fact: Chambers wrote her first novel, Uncertain Terms, while she was living in New Zealand.
Kiley Reid
Age: 37
Nationality: American
Famous for: Such A Fun Age and Come and Get It
Reviewers say of Such a Fun Age: ‘It’s a brilliantly observed skewering of liberal hypocrisy.’ (The Times)
Fun fact: Before writing Such a Fun Age, which examines privilege, race and class through a contemporary lens, Reid spent six years looking after the children of wealthy New Yorkers.
Caroline O’Donoghue
Age: 34
Nationality: Irish
Famous for: The Rachel Incident
Reviewers say: ‘The book is a tender reflection on friendships that leave a permanent imprint.’ (The Washington Post)
Fun fact: The Channel 4 team who made Normal People are adapting The Rachel Incident for TV, too.
Ann Napolitano
Age: 53
Nationality: American
Famous for: Hello Beautiful
Reviewers say: ‘Napolitano’s luminously beautiful novel explores the space between truth and self-delusion to powerful and incredibly moving effect.’ (The Guardian)
Fun fact: Connie Britton stars in the TV adaptation of Napolitano’s lesser known 2020 novel, Dear Edward.
