Kiran Desai was last night named the 2006 winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize for her novel 'The Inheritance of Loss'.
Chair of the judges, Hermione Lee, made the announcement at an awards dinner in London.
Desai, who beat favourite Sarah Waters as well as fellow nominees Kate Greenville, Hisham Matar, M J Hyland and Edward St Aubyn, was presented with the £50,000 prize last night.
'The Inheritance of Loss' is the Indian-born writer's second book and it was described by the judges as: "a magnificent novel of humane breadth and wisdom, comic tenderness and powerful political acuteness."
Her mother, novelist Anita Desai, has been shortlisted three times since 1980 but has never won.
Each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, receives £2,500 and a designer-bound edition of their book.
