… Marilynne Robinson for Lila.

Back in late February I predicted this might be the case saying,

However, if I had to pick who was going to win the NBCC, my money would be on Marilynne Robinson’s Lila.  It’s not a book that I particularly liked, but it continues to generate much praise and love.  I’m surprised it hasn’t been showered with prizes.

I can’t pat myself on the back about this, the impression I get was that Lila was the favourite given how many critics lavished praise on the novel.

If you’ve been reading this blog you’ll know it wasn’t my preferred choice of winner, I would have given the prize to Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings.  Still, my reservations aside, Lila is a beautiful written novel, more  than deserving of the award.  So congratulation to Marilynne Robinson.