Debatable Land

First edition (publ. Bloomsbury)

Debatable Land is a Guardian Fiction Prize-winning novel by Scottish author Candia McWilliam. The novel seeks to raise questions about the direction in which Britain (and more specifically the devolution project) is moving in the 21st century. The title refers to the debatable lands, land lying between Scotland and England when they were distinct kingdoms which perennially switched between English and Scots rule, before becoming an independent lawless territory ruled by warring clans. Set on a boat on the beautifully evoked South Pacific, the relations between the characters mirror contemporary devolutionary debates between the constitutive British states, particularly the relationship between England and Scotland.

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The Guardian's Guardian Fiction Prize
1965–1970
  • Crumb Borne by Clive Barry (1965)
  • The Dear Green Place by Archie Hind (1966)
  • Winter Journey by Eva Figes (1967)
  • A Song and a Dance by P. J. Kavanagh (1968)
  • Poor Lazarus by Maurice Leitch (1969)
  • When Did You Last See your Father? by Margaret Blount (1970)
1971–1980
1981–1990
1991–1998


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