Waverton Good Read Award


The Waverton Good Read Award was founded in 2003 by villagers in Waverton, Chester, England, and is based on Le Prix de la Cadière d'Azur, a literary prize awarded by a Provençal village. Adult debut novels written by UK residents and published in the previous twelve months are eligible for consideration and are read by villagers. "The aim was not only to stimulate reading in the village but to provide encouragement to British writers". Two of the main founders were Gwen Goodhew an educational specialist who established Wirral Able Child Centre and has written and edited books on teaching the gifted child, and Wendy Smedley. It is the first British award to be judged by normal readers rather than literary figures.
Waverton Good Read Children's Award was first presented in 2011, for children's literature.

Winners and shortlists

YearWinnerShortlisted
2003/4The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
2004/5Boy A, by Jonathan Trigell
  • At Risk, by Stella Rimington
  • Betrayal in Naples, by Neil Griffiths
  • Perception of Death, by Louise Anderson
  • The Two Pound Tram, by William Newton
    • 2005/6A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka
  • The Family Tree, by Carole Cadwalladr
  • Emotional Geology, by Linda Gillard
  • The Water Horse, by Julia Gregson
  • This Thing of Darkness, by Harry Thompson
    • 2006/7The Killing Jar, by Nicola Monaghan
  • Gang of Four, by Liz Byrski
  • Where They Were Missed, by Lucy Caldwell
  • The Observations, by Jane Harris
  • Mr. Clarinet, by Nick Stone
    • 2007/8Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, by Paul Torday
  • Gifted, by Nikita Lalwani
  • In the Woods by Tana French
  • Mosquito by Roma Tearne
  • The Dead of Summer by Camilla Way
  • The Solitude of Thomas Cave by Georgina Harding
    • 2008/9Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
  • A Girl Made of Dust, by Natalie Abi-Ezi
  • The Outcast by Sadie Jones
  • Spider by Michael Morley
    • 2009/10The Ghosts of Eden by Andrew Sharp
  • Girl in a Blue Dress, by Gaynor Arnold
  • The Coroner by M R Hall
  • The Street Philosopher by Matthew Pamplin
  • The Rescue Man by Anthony Quinn
    • 2010/11Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
  • Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson
  • The Breaking of Eggs by Jim Powell
  • The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
  • Luke and Jon by Robert Williams
    • 2011/12Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson
  • A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvvette Edwards
  • Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
  • 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
  • Sister by Rosamund Lupton
  • Snowdrops by A D Miller
    • 2012/13The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
  • Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
  • Rhumba by Elaine Proctor
  • The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
  • The House on Paradise Street by Sofka Zinovieff
    • 2013/14The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence
  • Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly
  • The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
  • What the River Washed Away by Muriel M Macleod
  • The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
    • 2014/15If I Should Die by Matthew Frank
  • A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray
  • Wake by Anna Hope
  • Daughter by Jane Shemilt
  • After Before by Jemma Wayne
    • 2015/16The Death's Head Chess Club by John Donoghue
  • Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey
  • I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
  • Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan
  • The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
    • 2016/17Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker
  • Crisis by Frank Gardner
  • The Words in My Hand by Guinevere Glasfurd
  • Belonging by Umi Sinha
  • The People We Were Before by Annabelle Thorpe
    • 2017/18Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
  • Montpelier Parade by Karl Geary
  • Not Thomas by Sara Gethin
  • The Pinocchio Brief by Abi Silver
  • A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
    • 2018/19 White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
  • White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
  • Call of the Curlew by Elizabeth Brooks
  • Bitter by Francesca Jakobi
  • Killer Intent by Tony Kent
  • The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson

    • Waverton Good Read Children's Award

    In 2011, the inaugural Waverton Good Read Children's Award was presented.
    ; Winners: