Girl in the Making, published by Sandycove, tells the story of Jean Kennedy a gentle, perceptive girl growing up in a very strange world: suburban Dublin in the 1970s and '80s. In the company of her mother, her Aunty Ida, and her little brother Baby John F., Jean experiences love and joy. But home is not a safe place, and Jean is unequal and unprotected. When she speaks just one small part of the truth, she must quickly learn to navigate the dangers and possibilities of a world she scarcely understands.

Judge Colm Tóibín commented: “Anna Fitzgerald’s Girl in the Making is written in the pitch-perfect voice of a girl who is a born noticer. This is suburban Dublin in the 1970s and 1980s, captured in careful, accurate detail. The family in focus here may seem comfortable, may appear ordinary. Indeed, some of the tensions are registered by Jean the narrator with calmness and plainness so that they seem ordinary too. But then, with extraordinary skill, Anna Fitzgerald reveals what is really happening in this house and to the delicate consciousness at the heart of the story. This is a novel of concealment and shocking revelation. In working so closely with intimate emotions and domestic traumas, Fitzgerald has managed to create an unforgettable heroine and a dark picture of the world around her.”

Prof Pete Shirlow, director of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, said: “Anna Fitzgerald’s Girl in the Making is exactly the sort of book we hoped we could promote when originally thinking about the establishment of a new literary prize in 2019. Here we have a bold new voice who we feel ought to have gained greater attention than has hitherto been the case. We very much hope that the prize will promote the reading of her work among a wider audience and encourage Anna to continue in her efforts at fiction writing.”

The shortlisted books also included Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson (4th Estate); Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree) and The Coast Road by Alan Murrin (Bloomsbury).

Praise For Girl In The Making

“Girl in the Making is a beautiful story that captures the wisdom of childhood. Open this book and step into the world of Jean Kennedy. Prepare to be quietly transformed”

Louise Nealon

“Fitzgerald has a voice that's completely her own, writing with such power and control it's hard to believe this is her debut. Girl in the Making is magnificent”

Aingeala Flannery

“Writing this good is a rare thing. Anna Fitzgerald's account of childhood and family in 1970s and ’80s Dublin is a masterful portrait of a place in time. This writer has arrived fully formed.”

Kathleen MacMahon

“This novel is devastating. And superb”

Anne Cunnigham ― Irish Independent

“There is a poignant mix of insight and innocence that harks back to O’Briens The Country Girls

Sarah Gilmartin”Irish Times

“Nostalgic, rich, intimate and authentic”

Irish Times

“Anna Fitzgerald works through the eyes of a growing child, in a voice that is rich in nostalgic effect and devastating in its content, to show the Dublin suburbs as we have not seen them before”

Anne Enright

“Tender and perceptive … simply unforgettable”

Sue Leonard ― Irish Examiner