Man Booker Prize
Forum Home / Man Booker prize / The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
- Joanne Dillon - on 29 Jul 2009 at 10:10AM
"Quail Woods is is being disassembled, tree by tree": Jake, on his 60th birthday, is treated to a plane flight above his home territory. From his aerial vantage, he scans the prison where his son Henry is serving a sentence. By profession an architect, Jake built that prison. His wife, Helen, has died. These facts he knows. The rest of his world shifts and blurs; words fail him and all Jake craves is stable footing on the earth. This he will never again enjoy.
Quail Woods is being stripped of its trees; the mind of its rooted, branching memories, as the home world falls asunder. Four years later, Jake's family brings out the album. He has no memory of the faces: wife, son, daughter, lover are equal strangers. Someone points encouragingly to a snap: "This is the day you took the flight over Quail Woods." A wisp of recognition is swallowed in the vast quandary of the void.
About the Man Booker Prize
"The Man Booker Prize promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The prize is the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and even publishers..." (c) Man Booker website
Key dates
The 2009 longlist of 13 titles has been announced.
The 2009 shortlist of 6 titles will be announced on 8 September 2009.
The 2009 winner will be announced on 6 October 2009.
The 2009 Longlist
Click on the links below to locate each title in the library catalogue or to discuss it in our Man Booker chat room.
Pick a winner
Make your prediction on who you this will win the 2009 Man Booker Prize
Visit our Book Discussion Room
Past winners
The winner in 2008 was The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.
Visit the Man Booker website for a full list of past winners.
