The Indian-American writer Akhil Sharma has been named winner of the second Folio prize for fiction for his second novel, Family Life.
Sharma - who wins the sum of £40,000 (over €54,000) - spent 13 years writing the saga which documents an emigrant family’s search for the American dream.
Following the announcement of his win in London last night, Sharma said that writing the book was a frustrating, difficult challenge.
He compared the activity to being “like chewing stones” with around nine wasted years when it did not go well. “I’m glad the book exists, I just wish I hadn't been the guy who wrote it,” he commented.
Sharma’s partly autobiographical tale, which is published by Faber, tells the story of a young boy Ajay and his family who emigrate from Delhi to New York.
The dream of a new life is tarnished when Ajay’s older brother has a swimming pool accident and needs round-the-clock care. Chair of the Judges William Fiennes described Family Life as “a masterful novel of distilled complexity.”
Colm Tóibín’s Nora Webster was in the running for this year's Folio Prize, as was Ben Lerner’s novel 10:04, Miriam Toews’ All My Puny Sorrows, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s debut Dust, Rachel Cusk’s Outline, Jenny Offill’s Dept. of Speculation and Ali Smith's How to Be Both.
The Folio prize is designed to highlight the best in English-language fiction, regardless of form, genre and geography. This year - the second year of the Folio Prize - all nominations were in the novel form.
In 2014, the winner was American George Saunders who won the award for his short story collection, Tenth of December.
