United States author George Saunders won the prestigious Man Booker Prize on Tuesday for “Lincoln in the Bardo”, praised as an “utterly original novel” by judges at the London ceremony.

Saunders beat five other finalists to the prize for his first full-length novel, which uses the accounts of hundreds of narrators to weave a tale around the death of Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son Willie.

“The form and style of this utterly original novel, reveals a witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative,” said Lola Young, chair of the judging panel.

AFP