Ali Smith's 'How to be Both' wins UK award

London

SCOTTISH writer Ali Smith's inventive How to be bothwas named as the winner in the novel category for Britain's 2014 Costa Book Awards.

Smith's critically acclaimed novel, also short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, contains the twin stories of George and Franchescho, one a 1960s teenager, the other a young artist in 15th-century Ferrara, which can be read in either order. A winner of the same award in 2005 for The Accidental, Smith will contend with four other authors for the main Costa Book of the Year award, to be announced on Jan 27.