Every Booker Prize finalist reviewed

THE Booker Prize is the most important literary award for English-language novels, and this year’s shortlist is notable for boasting the most number of women writers in its history – five women and just one man.

Pundits seem to think that the sole man on the shortlist, Percival Everett, may clinch the top prize for his novel James, an ambitious examination of race and morality in America that retells the classic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of the Black slave, Jim.

But that doesn’t detract from the achievements of the five women writers, whose complex novels explore a rich array of subjects from personal identity and intergenerational ties to the impacts of war, migration and space travel – often pushing boundaries in style and subject to reflect on the fault lines of our current world. The frontrunners include Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, Yael van der Wouden’s The Safekeep, and Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake.

In Friday’s issue of BT Lifestyle, we review all six novels in a two-page spread.

Meanwhile, in Design, we spotlight a unique house that has been a built on a triangular plot and cleverly conceived to accommodate large gatherings comfortably.

In Dining, cult Teochew restaurant favourite San Shu Gong has opened a new outlet in the trendy New Bahru enclave. We check out how it compares with the original Geylang eatery.

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For all this and more, don’t miss Friday’s issue of BT.