Hilary Mantel wins Booker

In a short-list bereft of Indian writers, this year’s Man Booker prize has gone to British novelist Hilary Mantel for her gripping 16th century tale titled ‘Wolf Hall’.

Mantel, 57, received £50,000 as prize money last night in what is considered one of the English-speaking world's most prestigious literary prizes.

Indian writers such as Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Aravind Adiga and Arundhati Roy have previously won the prize but this year’s shortlist did not feature any Indian.Other writers who made the short list this year were A S Byatt, J M Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Simon Mawer and Sarah Waters.

‘Wolf Hall’ is set in the 1520s and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to prominence.