The Loney Scoops A Big Prize

Andrew Michael Hurley's debut novel, The Loney, which I reviewed here, has just won a prestigious award.

Andrew Michael Hurley’s slice of Lancashire-set gothic horror The Loney has beaten some of the year’s biggest-hitting novels to be named book of the year at the British Book Industry awards... 

First published in a limited print run of just 300 copies by independent publisher Tartarus Press, The Loney tells of a pilgrimage to the Lancashire coast, “that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune [where] the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents”. Word-of-mouth success with the small Yorkshire publisher meant it went on to be acquired by John Murray, and to win the Costa first novel award in January. 

The British Book Industry awards, for “books that have been both well-written and brilliantly published”, called The Loney a “true British success story”. “A debut novel suspended between literary gothic and supernatural horror, it was written by an unknown author in his 40s, who worked part-time for 10 years to be able to write,” said organisers of the awards, which are run by The Bookseller magazine. “[The Loney] quickly became the hot literary novel, with almost 100 times its original print run.”

Proof, if anyone still needs it, that Tartarus Press know what they're doing, and that there's always great new talent emerging in this genre. Well done, all!