Samantha Harvey's THE WESTERN WIND is shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2019

Congratulations to Samantha Harvey, whose novel THE WESTERN WIND has made the shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2019. One of the most intelligent, structurally daring historical novels of recent years, which is as relevant to today as it is to its medieval setting - if you haven't read it, now's the time! It was also Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month for March 2019, and an instant bestseller in its first week of paperback publication.

The judges said: 'To be transported immediately into calf deep mud, pitted with hoof marks, to a rural village marinated in poverty, superstition, and rough Catholicism, and to believe you are truly in an isolated village in 1491, is the feat achieved by Samantha Harvey.  You are on the four-day journey with the priest John Reve, the pragmatic but mystical centre of this tale of paradoxes and suspense, with a glimpse of St Christopher to cheer you along. As the story unfolds in reverse, adding to a sense of faith, but also repressed desire, you feel you are taking each step with John Reve within a beautifully woven tapestry. The Western Windis a rare and wonderful achievement.'

The winner will be announced at the Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival on 15th June 2019.