Shortlist 2010
The shortlist for the 2010 Book Prize can be found below, along with a book club pack for each book. Book club packs contain a fuller synopsis, information about the author, discussion questions, a sample passage and suggested further reading.
The winner, as chosen by our judges, was announced at an awards ceremony at Wellcome Collection on 9 November.
Watch a short film of this year's judges discussing the six shortlisted books.
Fiction
So Much for That
Lionel Shriver
Shep gives up his dreams when he discovers his wife, Glynis, has been diagnosed with cancer. Meanwhile, Shep's best friend, who obsessively complains about capitalism, also struggles to look after his own disabled, but amusing, daughter.
This book examines ambition in the face of death and implicitly asks readers how well we support our loved ones when they are ill.
Publisher: Harper Collins
'So Much for That' book club pack
[PDF 180KB]
Grace Williams Says it Loud
Emma Henderson
Grace, bright as a button, but severally physically disabled is sent to live in a residential institution, where the staff consider physical and mental disability to be the same. Grace finds comfort in Daniel, an epileptic who lost both his arms. His loving father eventually arranges for the two of them to have a romantic escape. Henderson adequately addresses the impossibility of defining people by their disabilities.
Publisher: Sceptre
'Grace Williams Says it Loud' book club pack
[PDF 230KB]
Non-fiction
Medic: Saving lives - from Dunkirk to Afghanistan
John Nichol and Tony Rennell
This gripping book explores the history of medics who went into war with British troops. Battlefield medics have always had to make sure the most severely wounded are evacuated or treated on the spot. Duties include treating civilian and military casualties from the other side, and, if necessary, staying behind with the wounded. Are the medics the real heroes of warfare?
Publisher: Penguin
'Medic' book club pack
[PDF 190KB]
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks, an African American mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer, from which she died in 1951. Her cancer cells, kept alive without her knowledge, were sent all over the world for research. Until recently the identity of the cells was a mystery.
This book tells of the author's hard-won friendship with Deborah Lacks, Henrietta Lacks's daughter, and explores the ethical implications of using human tissue for research.
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' book club pack
[PDF 200KB]
Teach Us to Sit Still
Tim Parks
When Tim Parks was beset by sleeplessness and pains in his side, he thought he had cancer. An ayurvedic doctor said he had blocked energy, and before long he started meditating.
This book explores the relationship between health and ambition, living in the moment and to a timetable. Parks shows how hard it is to escape instilled habits, but is also open to the possibilities of change.
Publisher: Harvill Secker (an imprint of Random House
)
'Teach Us to Sit Still' book club pack
[PDF 190KB]
Angel of Death: The story of smallpox
Gareth Williams
The story of smallpox is usually told in two halves: millennia of fear followed by centuries of scientific progress beginning with Jenner's inoculation of James Phipps and concluding with the global eradication of smallpox. As always, the beauty is in the detail. Gareth Williams pieces together a variety of original sources - diaries, medical records, letters and articles - to bring this history to life.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
'Angel of Death' book club pack
[PDF 190KB]