Favourite Mantel scoops Booker fiction award

LONDON, (Reuters) – Bookmak-ers’ favourite Hilary  Mantel won the coveted Man Booker Prize yesterday for the  historical novel “Wolf Hall”, edging out her nearest rival by  three votes to two in the final phase of judging. 

The 650-page account of the life of Thomas Cromwell had been  heavily backed by gamblers, although organisers said the last  time the bookies’ choice walked off with the prize was in 2002  with Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi”.  

“Our decision was based on the sheer bigness of the book,  the boldness of its narrative … the extraordinary way that  Hilary Mantel has created what one of the judges said was a  modern novel which happens to be set in the 16th century,” said  James Naughtie, who chaired the five-member judging panel.