The longlist for the 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction has been announced, with 20 books on the list. (None of which I’ve read, although I have two in my possession.)

* Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

* Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan

* Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk

* The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

* Peripheral Vision by Patricia Ferguson

* Over by Margaret Forster

* The Dissident by Nell Freudenberger

* When to Walk by Rebecca Gowers

* A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo

* The Observations by Jane Harris

* Carry Me Down by MJ Hyland

* The Girls by Lori Lansens

* Alligator by Lisa Moore

* What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn

* The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

* Careless by Deborah Robertson

* Afterwards by Rachel Seiffert

* Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley

* Digging to America by Anne Tyler

* The Housekeeper by Melanie Wallace

The shortlist will be announced on April 17 and the winner named on June 6.

“This year’s longlist honours both new and well-established writers, featuring eight first novels alongside Margaret Forster who is longlisted for her 23rd novel and Anne Tyler who is listed for her 16th novel. Three authors appearing on this year’s list have previously been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, whilst a further three authors have also been longlisted.

There are nine British authors on the list, four Americans, two Australians and two Canadians. The other three are from China, India and Nigeria.”

So many good books that I haven’t read.

(courtesy of Reading Matters)