Gail Honeyman‘s debut novel Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has scored yet another award nomination and continues its incredible run in the bestseller charts where it is No.1 in the Sunday Times Paperback chart for the ninth week running.
Across all UK & Commonwealth territories, the various editions (hardback, paperback, ebook and audio) have sold a total of over 575,500 copies. Despite only being published in January, the paperback has already sold more than 200,000 copies, which is very nearly matched by the digital sales of ebook (150,000) and audiobook (45,000).
The book has also been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction. The Desmond Elliott Prize has been described by the Telegraph as “the UK’s most prestigious prize for first-time novelists”. The judges found the book to be “a neat trick on a classic novel form.” The Prize is chaired by Sarah Perry, author of 2016’s runaway debut success the Essex Serpent. Perry is joined by award-winning journalist Samira Ahmed, who will be judging the compeition. For a list of all the nominees, head to the Desmond Elliot Prize website.
Last week saw the novel nominated for three British Book Awards and longlisted for the Women’s Prize. Eleanor Oliphant was also longlisted this week for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award which is open to any debut novel written in English and published in the UK between 1 January and 31 December 2017. Lucy Popescu (chair of the judging panel) commented: “This has been a bumper year for strong debuts exploring a range of themes. We have enjoyed many passionate discussions and are delighted to highlight such extraordinary talent.”
Fellow longlisted titles include White Highlands by John McGhie (Little Brown) and The Missing Girl by Jenny Quintana (Mantle). We look forward to the shortlist being announced on Wednesday 18 April, and the winner on 22 June.
