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The Walter Scott Prize
17 winning novels and 85 more on the shortlists, 2010 to 2026. The other lists in The Novel Index show which of them have lasted.
Latest winner (2026): The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly
The Walter Scott Prize is for historical fiction, which for the prize means a novel set at least sixty years before it was published. It’s open to authors from the UK, Ireland and the Commonwealth. Use it if you like your history as a story.
Wolf Hall is the one the lists agree on, and The Mirror and the Light, the final book of Mantel’s trilogy, has also won. Days Without End follows an Irish soldier in 19th-century America. An Officer and a Spy is a tense retelling of the Dreyfus affair, and The Garden of Evening Mists is set in Malaya.
Winners and shortlists from Abbotsford Trust. The prize's own record · Every book from this prize in the index
The winners the lists rate highest
Wolf Hall is the Walter Scott Prize winner the other lists rate highest, on 9 other lists.
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When the shortlist outlasted the winner
The widest gap came in 2014, when Life After Life lost to An Officer and a Spy: it is now on 7 of our lists, the winner on 2.
Years when a shortlisted novel is now on more of our lists than the book that won.
| Year | Shortlisted | Lists | Winner | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Life After Life Kate Atkinson | 7 | An Officer and a Spy | 2 |
| 2013 | Bring Up the Bodies Hilary Mantel | 6 | The Garden of Evening Mists | 2 |
| 2020 | Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor | 3 | The Narrow Land | 1 |
| 2012 | Half-Blood Blues Esi Edugyan | 3 | On Canaan's Side | 1 |
| 2021 | Hamnet Maggie O'Farrell | 4 | The Mirror & the Light | 3 |
| 2014 | Harvest Jim Crace | 3 | An Officer and a Spy | 2 |
| 2014 | The Luminaries Eleanor Catton | 3 | An Officer and a Spy | 2 |
| 2025 | The Safekeep Yael van der Wouden | 3 | The Land in Winter | 2 |
Every Walter Scott Prize winner, year by year
The Matchbox Girl won in 2026. The first winner, in 2010, was Wolf Hall.
| Year | Winner | Author | Tier | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | The Matchbox Girl | Alice Jolly | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2025 | The Land in Winter | Andrew Miller | Acclaimed | 2 |
| 2024 | Hungry Ghosts | Kevin Jared Hosein | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2023 | These Days | Lucy Caldwell | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2022 | News of the Dead | James Robertson | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2021 | The Mirror & the Light | Hilary Mantel | Acclaimed | 3 |
| 2020 | The Narrow Land | Christine Dwyer Hickey | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2019 | The Long Take | Robin Robertson | Acclaimed | 2 |
| 2018 | The Gallows Pole | Ben Myers | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2017 | Days Without End | Sebastian Barry | Rising Star | 5 |
| 2016 | Tightrope | Simon Mawer | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2015 | The Ten Thousand Things | John Spurling | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2014 | An Officer and a Spy | Robert Harris | Acclaimed | 2 |
| 2013 | The Garden of Evening Mists | Tan Twan Eng | Acclaimed | 2 |
| 2012 | On Canaan's Side | Sebastian Barry | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2011 | The Long Song | Andrea Levy | Acclaimed | 2 |
| 2010 | Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel | All-Time Canon | 10 |
Lists used on this page
- The 100 best novels of all time, The Guardian (2026). Original list
- The 100 best books of the 21st century, The Guardian (2019). Original list
- The 100 greatest British novels, BBC Culture (2015). Original list
- 100 novels that shaped our world, BBC Arts (2019). Original list
- The 100 best books of the 21st century, The New York Times (2024). Original list
- Booker Prize (winners and shortlists), Booker Prize Foundation (1969-). Original list
- Women's Prize for Fiction (winners and shortlists), Women's Prize Trust (1996-). Original list
- Costa (Whitbread) Novel Award (winners and shortlists), Costa (1971-2021). Original list
- Walter Scott Prize (winners and shortlists), Abbotsford Trust (2010-). Original list
- British Book Awards: Fiction Book of the Year (winners and shortlists), The Bookseller (1990-). Original list
- Readers' top 100 novels, The Guardian (2026). Original list
- The Big Jubilee Read, BBC Arts and The Reading Agency (2022). Original list
- Goodreads Choice Awards: Fiction and Historical Fiction winners, Goodreads (2009-). Original list
- Richard & Judy Book Club picks, Richard & Judy / WHSmith (2004-). Original list
- Waterstones Book of the Year (winners and shortlists), Waterstones (2012-). Original list