Historical novel leads six-strong shortlist for Man Booker Prize

A HISTORICAL novel about Henry VIII’s adviser, Thomas Cromwell, leads the shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize.

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel, which tells the story of Cromwell’s rise to prominence in the Tudor court, is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the prestigious award.

South African author JM Coetzee also made the shortlist with his fictionalised memoir Summertime. If he won, it would bean unprecedented third Booker.