Deborah Levy's Real Estate was named the Hay Festival Book of the Year 2021, for which hundreds of book lovers nominated their favorite titles of the year online. The announcement came on the eve of Hay Festival Winter Weekend, which is running November 24-28 as the festival's first ticketed, in-person events in the U.K. for two years.
Gareth Howell-Jones, bookshop manager at Hay Festival, said: "Blending personal history, gender politics, philosophy, and literary theory, Real Estate is a compulsively readable narrative and a favorite among festivalgoers this year. The book was a bestseller at our spring event and we are delighted to celebrate it as our title of 2021."
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Shortlists in five categories have been announced for the 2021 Costa Book Awards, recognizing some of the most enjoyable books published in the last year by authors living in the U.K. and Ireland. Category winners, who each receive £5,000 (about $6,715), will be announced January 4, and the £30,000 ($40,300) overall winner of the Costa Book of the Year will be named February 1. See the complete Costa Book Awards shortlists here.