Winner and finalists for the 2017 Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction

The Langum Charitable Trust has just announced the winner and finalists for the Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction for 2017.

Laurel Davis Huber's The Velveteen Daughter (She Writes, 2017) has taken top honors.

From the press release: "Laurel Davis Huber’s The Velveteen Daughter composes the documented but unassembled lives of author and artist, as well as mother and daughter Margery Williams Bianco and Pamela Bianco. While Margery Williams Bianco’s Velveteen Rabbit is still cherished by contemporary generations, her daughter Pamela Bianco was arguably more famous in her lifetime ... While the novel includes vivid scenes of bohemian life both in Wales and Italy, as well as Greenwich Village and Harlem, The Velveteen Daughter is ultimately a novel about the intimate dynamics of familial and romantic love with its myriad expectations and disappointments."

For some background, read the author's guest post for this site, On Researching The Velveteen Daughter, and my review of the book from last July.  It's an excellent selection.

The two finalists for the prize are Wiley Cash's The Last Ballad (Morrow) and Janet Benton's Lilli de Jong (Doubleday).

In addition, in the prize announcement, David J. Langum, Sr., Director of the Langum Charitable Trust, discusses three notable works of American historical fiction from 2017: Eleanor Henderson's The Twelve Mile Straight, Jennifer Egan's Manhattan Beach, and Jane Kirkpatrick's All She Left Behind.

For more information, see the Langum Charitable Trust website.