In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, we have partnered with WHSmith to bring you a selection of titles from previous Women’s Prize for Fiction winners, nominated authors and judges at Buy One, Get One Half Price at a selection of their travel stores throughout the UK.
Included in the selection is V. V. Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night – which won the Prize in 2024. We caught up with Sugi to learn more about her book, what she looks for in a book as a travel companion, and the Women’s Prize’s impact on her.
What has it meant to be part of the Women’s Prize over the past 30 years?
It’s been amazing to see Brotherless Night in conversation with books by previous winners, as well as the longlisted and shortlisted writers. Over the past three decades, the Women’s Prize has assembled an astonishing library with such brilliance and range. Perhaps even more impressive is the community of readers around the award—people engaging these books with such intensity and care! I’m excited to read this year’s books, and for all the years to come.
What does the Women’s Prize for Fiction mean to you?
The Women’s Prize has really made a mark on my career; my debut novel was longlisted, which brought it to a wider readership, and winning the prize last year was surreal. It’s an honour to be recognised by a community of people dedicated to elevating women’s writing, especially because Brotherless Night is a feminist novel.
As a reader, what are you looking for in a book when you choose it as a travel companion?
When I’m travelling, I love to read an immersive book that gives me a different perspective on the place I’m seeing. This might be as simple as the book and the journey sharing a setting; alternatively, they might have rhyming or contrasting histories that spark my interest through comparison.
Introduce your book to a new reader.
In Brotherless Night, a young Tamil woman living in northern Sri Lanka experiences the beginning of the country’s civil war, which disrupts her family’s lives and her dream of being a doctor. As they navigate an increasingly militarized society, Sashi and her brothers face violence at the hands of the state, Indian peacekeepers, and Tamil militants. When one of her medical school professors invites her to join a secret project documenting human rights violations, she embarks on a dangerous path that will change her forever.
