‘My Sister the Serial Killer’ longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize

Oyinkan Braithwaite has been longlisted for this year’s £50,000 Booker Prize for her debut novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer, the sole debut to make the 13-strong longlist. Longlisted alongside the likes of Lanny by Max Porter,  Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry and The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s hotly anticipated sequel to her classic The Handmaid’s Tale, Braithwaite is also the youngest nominee on the list at the age of 31.

My Sister, The Serial Killer, which was also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, is “as skilful, sharp and engaging a debut as any first novelist can produce,” judges said. The Nigerian-born author’s novel has sold the second highest number of copies on the list at  13,052 units, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Chair of judges Peter Florence urged people to read all 13 nominations and emphasised the eclectic nature of the list. “There are Nobel candidates and debutants on this list,” he said. “They imagine our world, familiar from news cycle disaster and grievance, with wild humour, deep insight and a keen humanity. These writers offer joy and hope. They celebrate the rich complexity of English as a global language. They are exacting, enlightening and entertaining.”