A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams longlisted for the Women’s Prize

Congratulations to Pam Williams as her debut novel A Trace of Sun has been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Watch the announcement video featuring all 16 longlisted titles below.

A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams 

‘An unflinching look at one family’s experience of immigration, exploring mental health, identity and family’ –  Louise Hare, author of This Lovely City

‘Don’t go Mammy please.’ Stuttered words filled her ears, sent frissons of guilt through her as she bent over him; held him to her thumping chest. Tears sliding from her face to his.’

Raef is left behind in Grenada when his mother, Cilla, follows her husband to England in search of a better life. When they are finally reunited seven years later, they are strangers – and the emotional impact of the separation leads to events that rip their family apart. As they try to move forward with their lives, his mother’s secret will make Raef question all he’s ever known of who he is.

A Trace of Sun is, in part, inspired by the author’s own family experiences.

A Trace of Sun is out now, published by Legend Press. 

Monica Ali, Chair of Judges, says of the list: ‘With the strength and vitality of contemporary women’s fiction very much in evidence, reading the entries for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been a joyful experience. Of course this made it all the more difficult to select the longlist, but after much lively discussion amongst the judges we are delighted with the 16 titles selected. Each one of these books is brilliant, original and utterly unputdownable. Collectively, they offer a wide array of compelling narratives from around the world, written with verve, wit, passion and compassion. They are books that will engage readers’ hearts and minds, they are filled with indelible characters, and they do what stories can do so powerfully: unsettle and disturb as well as surprise and delight.’

Monica Ali is joined on the judging panel by author Ayọb̀ámi Adébáyọ; author and illustrator Laura Dockrill; actor Indira Varma; and presenter and author Anna Whitehouse.

Prize Overview

The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of the most successful, influential and popular literary prizes in the world, championing and amplifying women’s voices and nurturing a global community of readers.

The Prize was established in 1996 to highlight and remedy the imbalance in coverage, respect and reverence given to women writers versus their male peers, creating a platform for exceptional writing by women to shine.

The Prize is awarded annually to the author of the best full-length novel of the year written in English and published in the UK. The winner receives £30,000, anonymously endowed, and the ‘Bessie’, a bronze statuette created by the artist Grizel Niven.

Judging Process

Every year, a panel of five women, all passionate readers and at the top of their respective professions, choose the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The whole process starts in the summer of the previous year, when we invite UK publishers to submit eligible books.

Judges plunge immediately into reading their allocated books, basing their deliberations for the longlist, shortlist and winner on three core tenets, which have remained the same since the Prize was founded: excellence, originality and accessibility.

These judges will narrow down the longlist of 16 books to a shortlist of six, which will be announced on 24 April 2024. The winner of the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction will be awarded on Thursday 13 June 2024 at the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in central London, along with the winner of the 2024 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.