An author who suffered from agoraphobia has won the prestigious Costa Book of the Year Award for a story set in Canada, which she researched entirely at the British Library.
Stef Penney has suffered from agoraphobia and never travelled to Canada to research her novel the Tenderness of Wolves, her debut novel.
The book is set in 19th Century Canada and is about a Scottish family relocating to Canada during the Highland Clearances. She won the prize ahead of William Boyd's Restless, a spy story. | ||
Penney told the BBC after picking up the award, "Just because you go somewhere it doesn't mean that you have a peculiar or vivid or insightful take on the place. "Every story takes place in the landscape of the imagination. "Regarding this wide, open landscape which I find quite alarming, maybe it's even more vivid because I couldn't go and look at it and see how mundane it really is." | ||
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