Here are her musings on the experience…

Flattered, but slightly daunted is probably the best description of my reaction to being asked to judge this wonderful prize.  At Mainstreet, we have followed the evolution of the WSP since it started, our Daytime Book Group even shadowed the process for the first two years. I recall much heated debate.

Happily I was not the only newbie on a very impressive panel – Rosie Byard-Jones, herself a former winner of the Young Walter Scott Prize, brought a delightful, measured voice.  

While no state secrets can be revealed from the inner sanctum of the judging meetings, I can say it was a sometimes demanding, but fascinating experience.  Most of the other judges are also professional writers, so their insight into the writing process was acute and revealing.  

In the end we came up with an excellent and seriously varied shortlist, with novels ranging from 412 BC to 1963.  The stylistic fireworks on display were a joy.  As a bookseller, I almost never have the chance to re-read a book, no matter how much I love it, so it was a great surprise to me, just how much more I got from each short-listed book on a second outing.  

I am a huge fan of audiobooks, so in many cases I listened to the books as well as reading them.  At least three of them were read by the author which added to the experience, not least when meeting the authors in question at the awards ceremony.  

I can heartily recommend the whole shortlist, but of course the winner, The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller, holds a special place in my heart.  With my bookseller hat on again, it’s just a shame the paperback isn’t out until the Autumn and it’s got the word ‘winter’ on the cover!

Photograph of Andrew Miller and Abbotsford House by Rob McDougall