Novelist Barbara Kingsolver (pictured) has won the Orange Prize for Fiction for The Lacuna. In 1999, her novel The Poisonwood Bible was shortlisted for the prestigious prize.

The Orange Prize carries a £30,000 award, and winners receive a bronze figurine nicknamed the “Bessie.” Last year, Marilynne Robinson won the prize for her third novel, Home.

Judicial chair Daisy Goodwin had this statement: “We chose The Lacuna because it is a book of breathtaking scale and shattering moments of poignancy.”

The Orange Prize for Fiction 2010 Longlist was revealed yesterday, and one judge complained publicly about the 129 authors she read for the prize.

In the Guardian, television producer and writer Daisy Goodwin knocked the choices: “I think the misery memoir has had its day, but there are an awful lot of books out there which had not a shred of redemption in them … I was surprised at how little I laughed … and the ones where there was humour were much appreciated I can tell you.”

What do you think? Last year, Marilynne Robinson won the £30000 prize. See all 20 longlisted finalists after the jump–a list that includes everybody from Sarah Waters to Hilary Mantel to Barbara Kingsolver.

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