Montreal writer Sarah Bernstein's 'Study for Obedience' shortlisted for Booker Prize
Canadian novelist Sarah Bernstein's absurdist novel "Study for Obedience" has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize. Bernstein is shown in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Alice Meikle
Canadian novelist Sarah Bernstein's absurdist novel "Study for Obedience" has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize.
The £50,000 ($82,000) award goes to the book named the best work of fiction written in English and published in the U.K. and Ireland.
"Study for Obedience," first published by Granta Books in the U.K. and released in Canada last month by Penguin Random House Canada, explores ideas of prejudice, power dynamics and how history shapes people.
Fellow Canadian Esi Edugyan, who is chair of the Booker judges this year, made the announcement, calling the novel a "meditation on survival" with prose that is at once darkly funny, urgent and beautiful.
Bernstein, who was born in Montreal and now lives in Scotland, also made the long list for the $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The short list for that prize will be announced Oct. 11, and the award will be handed out on Nov. 13.
The Booker Prize will be handed out Nov. 26.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2023.
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