The biography of a young Jewish girl who was kept hidden by the author’s grandparents during the Second World War has won the Costa Book of the Year award.
The Cut Out Girl, written by Oxford professor Bart van Es, details the story of a Dutch girl named Lien de Jong, who was sheltered at age nine by van Es’s grandparents, before her own parents were sent to Auschwitz.
The judges – chaired by BBC News journalist Sophie Raworth – called the book “sensational and gripping – the hidden gem of the year”.
The winner was chosen from five individual categories, with The Cut Out Girl winning the biography prize.
Sally Rooney’s Normal People won the novel prize, Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle won the first novel prize, JO Morgan’s Assurances won the poetry prize, and Hilary McKay’s The Skylarks’ War won the children’s prize.
The late poet Helen Dunmore won the main prize last year, for her final collection Inside the Wave.
Es has won £30,000 as part of the prize. De Jong, now in her mid-80s, was present at the ceremony held on Tuesday, 29 January in London.
