Levy wins prestigious Whitbread book prize

Andrea Levy has won the prestigious Whitbread Book of the Year Award for her novel, 'Small Island'.

The London-based author collected the main prize after 'Small Island' was also named Whitbread Novel of the Year at last night's award ceremony, which took place at the Brewery in London. The novel, Ms Levy's fourth, also won the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction.

'Small Island' is set in London, after the Second World War, and tells the story of a landlady, who takes in a group of Jamaican lodgers, including a former soldier, who try to adapt to life in Britain.

The Whitbread judges, who included writers Jenny Colgan and Amanda Craig, described the book as "hilarious, moving, humane and eye-popping". Sir Trevor McDonald, who chaired the judging panel, said: "All the books are winners and the decision was very difficult, but 'Small Island' was written with enormous charm and was a clear choice for Whitbread Book of the Year."

The Whitbread Book of the Year was launched in 1985. Previous winners of the prestigious prize include Phillip Pullman, Christopher Nolan and Nicolas Mosley, as well as poets Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney. The prize fund is worth £50,000, with £25,000 for the Book of the Year and £5,000 each for the winners of the other five categories – Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book.

The other winners at the 2004 Whitbread Awards were: Susan Fletcher, 'Eve Green' (First Novel); John Guy, 'My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots' (Biography); Michael Symmons Roberts, 'Corpus' (Poetry); and Geraldine McCaughrean, 'Not the End of the World' (Children's Book).

(KMcA/SP)