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Six titles spanning imperial Japan to 19th-century Jamaica have been shortlisted for the second Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction, worth £25,000.
Andrea Levy's The Long Song (Headline Review) and Tom McCarthy's C (Jonathan Cape) both shortlisted for last year's Man Booker Prize, were both on the list, alongside David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Sceptre), Ghostlight by Joseph O' Connor (Harvill Secker), Heartstone by C J Sansom (Mantle) and To Kill a Tsar by Andrew Williams (John Murray).
Chair of judges, Alistair Moffat, said: "The Walter Scott Prize has become, in its second year, one of the most sought-after English language book prizes. However it is uniquely awarded for historical fiction, a genre which allows as wide and fascinating a range of writing as fiction itself. In judging the year's output, our principle is that the books must inhabit the past and enrich our historical understanding, at the same time as changing our perspective on the present."
The titles are chosen for their "originality and innovation, quality of writing, and potential durability".
The winner will be announced on 18th June as part of the Borders Book Festival in Melrose. The shortlisted authors are also invited to stay with the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, sponsors of the prize, as their guests, and to tour Sir Walter Scott's home, Abbotsford, which is nearby.
The prize was won in its inaugural year by Hilary Mantel's Man Booker-winning Wolf Hall.