Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall has been shortlisted for a special Man Booker award crowning the best work of fiction from the last five decades.
All 51 winners of the Man Booker were pitted against each other for the special gong.
The titles have been whittled down to a golden five, one from each decade from the award’s inception in 1969, which have “best stood the test of time”.
The five-strong shortlist includes last year’s Man Booker winner Lincoln In The Bardo by US writer George Saunders, as the best book from 2010 onwards.
In A Free State by British novelist VS Naipaul (1971) is also shortlisted and the oldest novel on the list.
Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, which was adapted into an Oscar-winning film, is shortlisted from 1992.
Moon Tiger by British writer Penelope Lively completes the top five.
Mantel is the only woman to have won the Man Booker Prize twice and Wolf Hall has since been adapted for TV and stage
The public have until June 25 to vote for the winner, which will be announced on July 8.
The shortlist (with year of win):
In A Free State, VS Naipaul (1971)
Moon Tiger, Penelope Lively (1987)
The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje (1992)
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel (2009)
Lincoln In The Bardo, George Saunders (2017)
