ISLAMABAD – Pakistani-British writer Kamila Shamsie has won theinternational Women’s Prize for Fiction with “Home Fire” a novel aboutlove, radicalism and conflicting loyalties in the post-9/11 era.
Shamsie was awarded the $40,000 prize at a ceremony in London Wednesday.Loosely based on Sophocles’ ancient Greek tragedy “Antigone” her novelcenters on three British Muslim siblings torn apart when one joins theIslamic State group.
Journalist Sarah Sands, who chaired the judging panel, called it a story of“identity, conflicting loyalties, love and politics” that “spoke for ourtimes.”
Shamsie beat five other finalists. They included American writer JesmynWard, who had been bookies’ favorite for her National Book Award-winningnovel “Sing, Unburied, Sing.”
Founded in 1996, the prestigious prize is open to female English-languagewriters from around the world.