In a year short of reasons to be optimistic the world of books has offered some comfort, with a wealth of new and exciting voices coming to the fore in 2023. More than a quarter of the novels on this year's Booker Prize longlist were debuts, and first novels comprised half of the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist (although the eventual victor was veteran American novelist – and previous winner – Barbara Kingsolver for Demon Copperhead, (Faber, 560pp, £9.99) – her brilliant update on Dickens's David Copperfield.
Surprisingly, Alice Winn's epic World War I love story In Memoriam (Viking, 400pp, £14.99) was nominated for neither of the year's top awards, but in August it deservedly carried off the Waterstone's Debut Fiction Prize, with the judges hailing it a ‘truly stunning feat of fiction’.
Centering on the relationship between two teenage soldiers, Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood, who together travel from boarding school Marianka Swain.
