Some book prizes are snobs-only, but not the Nibbies, where judges include literary titans Lorraine Kelly and Adrian Chiles. At last night’s ceremony we caught up with Jilly Cooper, who is excited for the new TV adaptation of her book Rivals, because the cast are “all gorgeous, and they all love each other”. David Tennant, Danny Dyer and Aidan Turner star. She hasn’t always felt enthusiastic about adaptations of her novels. “Riders was made into a film which I really didn’t like, and now this is so blissful,” she added.
Jacqueline Wilson was fired up about her first novel for adults, out soon. “I have a second bite of the cherry,” she said, adding that she has a surprisingly large contingent of older fans. “Sometimes when I’m doing signing queues, the mums are more excited than the children!”
Rory Stewart beat Prince Harry and Britney Spears with his memoir Politics on the Edge. The ex-MP missed the ceremony as he is on an 11-day silent retreat. “When you’re watching this, I’m going to be meditating in the dark,” he said in a pre-recorded message.
The Nibbies, or British Book Awards as they’re officially known, were held at Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, with award presenters including Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne, CBBC man Rhys Stephenson and First Dates maître d’ Fred Sirieix.
Sirieix took the opportunity on stage to plug his upcoming book about what the French think of the English. “I need a bit more time writing the sex chapter,” he said, “Specifically why the French think that the British don’t have any sex.”
