'Wolf Hall' favored for Orange Prize for Fiction

[June 09, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- Hilary Mantel's weighty Tudor tome "Wolf Hall" is the bookmakers' favorite to scoop the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction.

The tale of Henry VIII's England was awarded the Man Booker Prize last year. It is up against five other novels for the 30,000 pound ($45,000) prize.

The prize is open to any novel by a woman published in English and will be awarded Wednesday evening in London.

The shortlist includes American writers Barbara Kingsolver for "The Lacuna," Lorrie Moore for "A Gate at the Stairs" and Attica Locke's "Black Water Rising."

The other books nominated are "The Very Thought of You," by British writer Rosie Alison, and "The White Woman on the Green Bicycle," by British-Trinidadian writer Monique Roffey.

[Associated Press]

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