28 Dec 2011 10:01:01
What Lauren Laverne has dubbed "an indispensable guide to Ladyhood" by the Times columnist came in ahead of titles by esteemed literary names including Claire Tomalin, Alan Hollinghurst and Pulitzer winner Jennifer Egan to be named the Galaxy book of the year, it was announced this morning. The vote asked the public to choose their favourite from amongst the winners of all 11 categories from the Galaxy awards, with comedian Dawn French's debut novel A Tiny Bit Marvellous coming in second, and Room, Emma Donoghue's harrowing story of an incarcerated woman and her son, third.
"Obviously Rear Of The Year is the one I've always been gunning for, but since I found out it's judged on 'form' rather than 'sheer volume', then book of the year is not only a total honour and thrill, but also enables me to chow down on a hogroast over Christmas without worrying about fitting into my jeggings," said Moran. "Plus I get to give the year's supply of Galaxy to my favourite charity, Kids Company, who I suspect are pros when it comes to disposing of a 400g bar in under 30 seconds."
Other contenders for the book of the year gong included chef Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook, SJ Watson's debut thriller Before I Go to Sleep and Patrick Ness's children's story A Monster Calls. Last year the prize was won by David Nicholls's hit romantic novel One Day, which went on to be the bestselling paperback of 2011.
