Reading may be a solitary and silent pastime, but when there's an award at stake you can expect to hear many a raised voice.
The Small Island, the novel by Andrea Levy, won the title of Best of the Best – the "best Orange Prize for Fiction winner over the 10 years".
The proceedings, reported the Guardian, were held with "pomp and ceremony," a far cry from the Evening Standard's description of the ceremony in 1995 which gushed "there was glamour, lesbians kissing in the lavatories, and conversations centred on make-up, fashion and feminist principles."
Ah, those were the days.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the controversy, the future of the Orange Prize looks – well - bright and the shortlist each year is yet another reason to get lost in Waterstones on Saturday mornings when your partner thinks you're out buying milk and a newspaper.
Read more about all previous Orange Prize for Fiction winners here.
