Beth Underwood Wins the HWA Debut Crown

On 7 November 2017, Beth Underwood was announced as the winner of the HWA Debut Crown. I was delighted to be one of the judges, alongside chair Emma Darwin and fellow judges Ayo Onatade, Susan Heads and Sunny Singh. Underwood's "terrifying and utterly convincing" The Witch Finder's Sister was selected as the best historical fiction debut of the previous year. The rest of the incredibly strong shortlist was made up of Emily Bitto's, The Strays, Sarah Day's, Mussolini's Island, Martin Holmén's, Clinch, Abir Mukherjee's, A Rising Man, and finally James Terry's, The Solitary Woman of Shakespeare.

You can read more about the debut crown here hwacrowns.co.uk/hwa-debut-crown/