The Book Show

This year's winner of the Booker Prize is British author Samantha Harvey for her fifth novel, Orbital. The Booker judges were unanimous in their decision.Orbital is set in the International Space Station and takes a bird's eye view of the earth as it orbits the world over a 24 hour period. The reader meets six astronauts and cosmonauts as they grapple with big questions of family, faith and grief, as well as mundane matters of domestic life in the space station.Samantha Harvey spoke to The Book Show's Sarah L'Estrange about her long running interest in space and how she wanted to write about it "as our one remaining wilderness".Here is more information about the award winning book. 

Australian crime writer Garry Disher has been writing for almost 50 years but has only recently been able to make a living and now he's published his 60th book, Sanctuary. Emily Maguire explores the medieval urban legend of a female pope in Rapture and in his novel, This Kingdom of Dust, David Dyer imagines what might've happened if the Apollo 11 mission didn't go to plan.Australian crime-writing legend, Garry Disher has just published his 60th book in a career that ranges over four decades and began at a time when the cultural cringe towards Australian crime fiction meant it wasn't as popular as it is today. His latest novel Sanctuary draws on a side character, Grace, from his Peninsula Crime novels, that he couldn't let go. Garry shares how his love of writing began in childhood when his father told nightly bedtime stories with cliff hangers.David Dyer's first novel, The Midnight Watch, was about the tragedy of the Titanic, and his second novel takes up another iconic event of the 20th century, the 1969 moon landing. In This Kingdom of Dust David imagines an alternative ending for the Apollo 11 mission. Australian author Emily Maguire's latest novel, Rapture, is a work of historical fiction and is a sharp turn for Emily, who has made her name with contemporary novels, including Love Objects and her Miles Franklin shortlisted novel, An Isolated Incident. Rapture takes up the story of Joan, the female Pope. According to the legend, Pope Joan disguised herself as a man, followed a lover to a monastery and ended up rising to the throne of St Peter.

For the first time in a decade, an Australian writer, Charlotte Wood has made the Booker Prize shortlist with her novel Stone Yard Devotional. Hear from Charlotte and the other shortlisted writers, including Rachel Kushner and Percival Everett, and find out who we think will win.The Booker Prize is the most prestigious writing prize in the English speaking world and is open to books written in English, and published in England or Ireland in the last year. The winner takes home £50000 and expect a life-changing increase in book sales.Claire Nichols and Sarah L'Estrange speak to all of the shortlisted authors:James by Percival EverettOrbital by Samantha HarveyCreation Lake by Rachel KushnerHeld by Anne MichaelsThe Safekeep by Yael van der WoudenStone Yard Devotional by Charlotte WoodThe winner of the Booker Prize will be announced on November 13, Australian time.

A wild puma stalks through Robbie Arnott's haunting new novel, Dusk, Fiona McFarlane's homage to true crime podcasts in Highway 13 and Malcolm Knox raises the stakes in a Soviet era political thriller, The First Friend.Australian author Robbie Arnott has published four novels, and two of them — The Rain Heron and Limberlost — have been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. His latest novel, Dusk, is a Western and it's about two siblings who are on the trail of a wild puma that's been terrorising local graziers. Robbie tells Claire about his fascination with the natural world and why he aims to capture animals "as they are, not what we want them to be".Highway 13 is a crime novel with a difference, it's about the ripple effects of a serial killer's crimes - but not the crime itself - and is the fourth book by Australian born, US based author Fiona McFarlane. It's loosely based on the case of Australian serial killer Ivan Milat but is structured as interlinked stories about the murderer's former neighbours, the sister of his former wife and the brother of one of his victims. There's even a story written in the style of a true crime podcast. Malcolm Knox is an award winning Australian journalist and novelist and his latest book The First Friend is a Soviet era satirical thriller. It draws on Malcolm's own interest in Russian fiction and history. It's a lesson in how to raise the literary stakes for fictional characters.