Reading
Book of the Year Reviews
Below you can read synopses and reviews of every winner of the Costa (formerly Whitbread) Book of the Year since 1985. If you've a comment about one of the books, why not make it on our blog?
Costa Book of the Year 2007
Day by A.L. Kennedy
Alfred Day wanted his war. In its turmoil he found his proper purpose as the tail-gunner in a Lancaster bomber; he found the wild, dark fellowship of his crew, and he found Joyce, a woman to love. But that's all gone now - the war took it away. Now, in 1949, Alfred is winding back time to see where he lost himself. He has taken the role of an extra in a POW film. Shipped out to Germany and an ersatz camp, he picks his way through the clichés that will become all that's left of his war and begins to do what he's never dared - to remember. He is looking for some semblance of hope: trying to move forward by going back.
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Costa Book of the Year 2006
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
1867, Canada. As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a man is brutally murdered and a seventeen-year-old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead mans cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra beyond. In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the township journalists, Hudsons Bay Company men, trappers, traders but do they want to solve the crime, or exploit it?
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Costa Book of the Year 2005
Matisse the Master by Hilary Spurling
Fifty years after his death, Matisse the Master shows us the painter as he saw himself. With unprecedented and unrestricted access to his voluminous family correspondence, and other new material in private archives, Hilary Spurling documents a lifetime of desperation and self-doubt, exacerbated by Matisse's attempts to counteract the violence and disruption of the twentieth century in paintings that seem now effortlessly serene, radiant and stable.
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Costa Book of the Year 2004
Small Island by Andrea Levy
It is 1948 in an England that is still shaken by war. Queenie Bligh takes into her house lodgers who have recently arrived from Jamaica. Among her tenants are Gilbert and his new wife Hortense. Gilbert Joseph was one of the several thousand Jamaican men who joined the war to fight against Hitler. On returning to England after the war he finds himself treated very differently now that he is no longer in a blue uniform. Queenie's neighbours do not approve of her choice of tenants, and neither would her husband were he there.
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Costa Book of the Year 2003
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
A murder mystery novel like no other: The detective and narrator is Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old boy with Asperger's, a form of autism. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.
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Costa Book of the Year 2002
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
The trials of living with Aspergers, seen through the eyes of a young boy.
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Costa Book of the Year 2001
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The final book in the compelling His Dark Materials trilogy.
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Costa Book of the Year 2000
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Novel set out as two parallel stories about the invasion of Tasmania by the British.
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Costa Book of the Year 1999
Beowulf by Seamus Heaney
Translation of the classic Anglo-Saxon poem of a dragon-slaying warrior.
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Costa Book of the Year 1998
Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
Haunting collection of poems reminiscing about Sylvia Plath, his first wife.
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Costa Book of the Year 1997
Tales from Ovid by Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes' translation of Ovid's epic.
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Costa Book of the Year 1996
The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney
Collection of poems largely concerned with balance.
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Costa Book of the Year 1995
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
The life of Ruby Lennox and her complex family.
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Costa Book of the Year 1994
Felicia's Journey by William Trevor
Young and pregnant, Felicia sets out on a journey to find her boyfriend.
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Costa Book of the Year 1993
Theory of War by Joan Brady
Vivid and riveting historical novel of a boy sold into slavery in post Civil War America.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1992
Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington
A dark, moving journey of self-discovery in the underclass of 1960s Glasgow.
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Costa Book of the Year 1991
A Life of Picasso by John Richardson
A rich, personal biography by a long-standing friend of the artist, based on his diaries of their meetings.
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Costa Book of the Year 1990
Hopeful Monsters by Nicholas Mosley
A tale of love between two young radicals at the time of the Spanish Civil War.
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Costa Book of the Year 1989
Coleridge: Early Visions by Richard Holmes
Deeply moving, evocative and affectionate biography of the great poet.
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Costa Book of the Year 1988
The Comforts of Madness by Paul Sayer
The unspoken monologue of a catatonic boy called Peter.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1987
Under the eye of the clock by Christopher Nolan
An insightful story into the life of Joseph Meehan and his struggle to escape the confines of his handicapped existence.
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Costa Book of the Year 1986
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
The story of an ageing Japanese painter assessing his career during World War II.
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Costa Book of the Year 1985
Elegies by Douglas Dunn
A collection of observational poems about the death of Dunn's first wife.
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Costa Book of the Year 2006
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Judges: The Tenderness of Wolves is atmospheric, gripping and compassionate and perfectly evokes the snowy wastes of nineteenth century Canada.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com
click here.
Costa Book of the Year 2005
Matisse the Master by Hilary Spurling
Fifty years after his death, Matisse the Master shows us the painter as he saw himself. With unprecedented and unrestricted access to his voluminous family correspondence, and other new material in private archives, Hilary Spurling documents a lifetime of desperation and self-doubt, exacerbated by Matisse's attempts to counteract the violence and disruption of the twentieth century in paintings that seem now effortlessly serene, radiant and stable.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 2004
Small Island by Andrea Levy
It is 1948 in an England that is still shaken by war. Queenie Bligh takes into her house lodgers who have recently arrived from Jamaica. Among her tenants are Gilbert and his new wife Hortense. Gilbert Joseph was one of the several thousand Jamaican men who joined the war to fight against Hitler. On returning to England after the war he finds himself treated very differently now that he is no longer in a blue uniform. Queenie?s neighbours do not approve of her choice of tenants, and neither would her husband were he there.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 2003
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
A murder mystery novel like no other: The detective and narrator is Christopher Boone, a fifteen year old boy with Asperger's, a form of autism. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 2002
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
The trials of living with Aspergers, seen through the eyes of a young boy.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 2001
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The final book in the compelling His Dark Materials trilogy.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com
click here.
Costa Book of the Year 2000
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Novel set out as two parallel stories about the invasion of Tasmania by the British.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com
click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1999
Beowulf by Seamus Heaney
Translation of the classic Anglo-Saxon poem of a dragon-slaying warrior.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1998
Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
Haunting collection of poems reminiscing about Sylvia Plath, his first wife.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1997
Tales from Ovid by Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes' translation of Ovid's epic.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1996
The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney
Collection of poems largely concerned with balance.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1995
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
The life of Ruby Lennox and her complex family.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1994
Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor
Young and pregnant, Felicia sets out on a journey to find her boyfriend.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1993
Theory of War by Joan Brady
Vivid and riveting historical novel of a boy sold into slavery in post Civil War America.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1992
Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington
A dark, moving journey of self-discovery in the underclass of 1960s Glasgow.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1991
A Life of Picasso by John Richardson
A rich, personal biography by a long-standing friend of the artist, based on his diaries of their meetings.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1990
Hopeful Monsters by Nicholas Mosley
A tale of love between two young radicals at the time of the Spanish Civil War.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1989
Coleridge: Early Visions by Richard Holmes
Deeply moving, evocative and affectionate biography of the great poet.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1988
The Comforts of Madness by Paul Sayer
The unspoken monologue of a catatonic boy called Peter.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1987
Under the eye of the clock by Christopher Nolan
An insightful story into the life of Joseph Meehan and his struggle to escape the confines of his handicapped existence.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1986
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
The story of an ageing Japanese painter assessing his career during World War II.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.
Costa Book of the Year 1985
Elegies by Douglas Dunn
A collection of observational poems about the death of Dunn's first wife.
To read review or buy online from Amazon.com click here.