Daisy Johnson (born 1990) is a British novelist and short story writer. [1] Her debut novel, Everything Under, was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, [2] and beside Eleanor Catton is the youngest nominee in the prize's history. For her short stories, she has won three awards since 2014. Having a child (or anyone you love) is a prelude to loss, whether yours or theirs. The more you want it, the more you have to lose. This story is an allegory for growing up and leaving home. AS Byatt’s short story, The Stone Woman (see my review see my review HERE) came to mind.

Perhaps what’s most terrifying is it could be anywhere: “You could be driving around that landscape and you come round the corner and you see this hotel,” Ms Johnson said.

Every story is deliberate and stark. Even as I read simple exchanges, it seems like the characters are meant to be lit via chiaroscuro... Daisy Johnson is youngest Booker nominee". BBC News. 20 September 2018 . Retrieved 13 October 2018.

Nevertheless, she embarks on an improbable relationship, which is unexpectedly cut short and even more unexpectedly transformed. i liked it. but i was expecting more landscape.. i'd thought that's what the book would be made of, the way other people speak of it. Johnson says she was never one of the teenagers hiding shots under the table in the local pub, or bumming a cigarette in the car park outside. “I was always very good. A lot of my work ethos comes down to guilt. I don’t know if that’s good, but that’s the way it works. I never would have been one of those people, which is why maybe I can write about them, from an outside point of view.” We're not here for a laugh. We're here for the grim determination, overcast skies, lingering dampness...

She’s already working on novel exploring another liminal zone – the network of canals that thread through post-industrial Britain. Mixed with the nervousness that makes Johnson sit up straight in her chair, measuring out each answer with stop-start care, is a confidence that the wide spaces of the fen have helped her to find her voice. The Fens' notorious flatness creates a spooky atmosphere - since “you can see anything coming,” she said. “And that can be a good thing, but it can also be a quite unnerving, frightening thing, because the fen doesn't have any secrets, you can see everything coming towards you.” Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2017 winner announced - News". News. 26 August 2017 . Retrieved 13 October 2018. MSt alumna Daisy Johnson longlisted for Sunday Times EFG Short Story award". Master's in Creative Writing. Oxford University. 13 February 2017 . Retrieved 13 October 2018.