Irish author Sebastian Barry has won a €25,000 prize for historical fiction for his novel On Canaan’s Side.
Barry was presented with the Walter Scott Prize at the Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, yesterday.
His novel was chosen from a shortlist of six books, including The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, and The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth.
“I’m uncharacteristically speechless,” said Barry. “I really was not expecting to win. Just look at the other authors on the shortlist.”
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On Canaan’s Side tells the story of a woman who flees Dublin after the first World War for a new life in the US.