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Kate Summerscale has won this year's Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction for The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, in what is Bloomsbury's second win of the prize in a row, with judges describing the book as "absolutely riveting".
Summerscale took the £30,000 prize last night (15th July), beating fellow shortlisted authors Tim Butcher, Mark Cocker, Orlando Figes, Patrick French and Alex Ross.
Rosie Boycott, chair of judges, said: “Kate Summerscale has brilliantly merged scrupulous archival research with vivid storytelling that reads with the pace of a Victorian thriller. The book is a rare work of non-fiction that mimics suspense genre and leaves one gripped until the final paragraph. We can’t think of a better winner for the 10th year of the Prize.”
Boycott was joined by a panel of judges comprising literary editor of the Guardian, Claire Armitstead; poet Daljit Nagra; director of the Science Museum, Chris Rapley; and documentary maker and journalist Hannah Rothschild.
BBC4 will televise the awards ceremony this Sunday (20th July), featuring complementary programming presented by Kirsty Wark.