Final Thoughts on the Walter Scott Prize 2026

It was the year that News of the Dead by James Robertson won, cuz I love that book very, very much. And I was very glad to see that win.

It's a really, really powerful, interesting novel. I felt mostly invested in Ruth and also in the story of one of the sort of teenage girls who lives in the village.

Overall, I thought it was a really strong novel, would highly recommend, very powerful read, really interesting story. But I did love the first sort of 40% the first section more than the rest of it.

At number in last place, I'm going to put The Venetian Vespers, which was a book that was on the long list but not the short list, and I really, really didn't like at all.