Beryl Bainbridge Honored With Posthumous Booker

Posted on April 19, 2011

Author Beryl Bainbridge has been honored with a posthumous Booker. The late author was shortlisted five times for the Booker Prize, but never actually one.

A special prize, the Man Booker Best of Beryl, was held in her honor. The public was asked to vote for their favorite of Beryl's five shortlisted books. The books include: The Dressmaker (1973); The Bottle Factory Outing (1974); An Awfully Big Adventure (1990); Every Man for Himself (1996) and Master Georgie (1998).

Voters selected Master Georgie as the Best of Beryl winner. Master Georgie was first published in 1998 by Duckworth, and was shortlisted in the year that Ian McEwan's novel Amsterdam won the Booker Prize.

Ion Trewin, Literary Director of the Man Booker Prizes, said, "Beryl was a very gracious non-winner and no Man Booker dinner was complete without her. She may have been known as the eternal Booker Bridesmaid, but we are delighted to be able finally to crown Master Georgie a Booker Bride."