LONDON (AP) 鈥� American novelist Virginia Evans won the on Thursday with 鈥淭he Correspondent,鈥� a word-of-mouth bestseller told in letters from the protagonist.
Canadian journalist Lyse Doucet won the with 鈥淭he Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People鈥檚 History of Afghanistan.鈥�
Both prizes come with a 30,000 pound ($40,000) purse and are open to female English-language writers from any country.
Evans wrote seven unpublished novels before writing 鈥淭he Correspondent” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was released quietly in 2025. A story told through years鈥� worth of letters from retired lawyer Sybil Van Antwerp to friends, family and famous writers, it gradually climbed bestseller lists and became a book club favorite. A film adaptation starring Jane Fonda is in the works.
Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who chaired the fiction judging panel, said the novel 鈥渃aptured our hearts.鈥�
鈥淚t is no mean feat to write a life in letters, but Evans makes this feel effortless, asking the reader to consider the choices we make, whilst elevating an ordinary life in the most heartfelt of ways,鈥� she said.
Doucet, the BBC鈥檚 chief international correspondent, profiles staff and guests of Kabul鈥檚 once-glamorous Inter-Continental Hotel 鈥� scarred but still standing — to provide a microcosm of Afghanistan鈥檚 turbulent recent history.
Labour Party politician Thangam Debbonaire, head of the nonfiction jury, called it 鈥渁 perfect work of narrative non-fiction鈥� that is 鈥渋nformed by decades of excellent reporting.鈥�
Previous winners of the fiction prize, founded in 1996, include Zadie Smith, and .
The sister was founded in 2024 to help redress a gender imbalance in publishing. In 2022, only 26.5% of nonfiction books reviewed in Britain鈥檚 newspapers were by women, and male writers dominated established nonfiction writing prizes.
Last year鈥檚 nonfiction winner was British physician Rachel Clarke鈥檚 account of an organ transplant, 鈥淭he Story of a Heart.鈥�
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