merican novelist Barbara Kingsolver has gained the Women’s Prize for Fiction for the second time along with her newest novel that reimagines Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield within the American south.

Demon Copperhead was the unanimous alternative of the judges to win the £30,000 prize and was praised for its therapy of life among the many rural poor in modern-day America.

Chair of the judges Louise Minchin mentioned Kingsolver, who gained in 2010 for The Lacuna, had written “a towering, deeply powerful and significant book”.

She mentioned: “In a year of outstanding fiction by women, we made a unanimous decision on Demon Copperhead as our winner. Brilliant and visceral, it is storytelling by an author at the top of her game.

“We were all deeply moved by Demon, his gentle optimism, resilience and determination despite everything being set against him.

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“An exposé of modern America, its opioid crisis and the detrimental treatment of deprived and maligned communities, Demon Copperhead tackles universal themes – from addiction and poverty, to family, love, and the power of friendship and art – it packs a triumphant emotional punch, and it is a novel that will withstand the test of time.”

Kingsolver was offered along with her prize and a figurine at an occasion in Bedford Square Garden.

Previous winners of the prize embrace Linda Grant, Maggie O’Farrell, Ali Smith and Andrea Levy.

Set up in 1996 to have a good time and promote fiction by ladies, the prize is awarded for the most effective full-length novel of the yr written by a girl and printed within the UK between April and March the next yr.

Any girl writing in English – no matter her nationality, nation of residence, age or material – is eligible.

The Women’s Prize Trust – the UK charity which champions fairness for girls on the earth of books – has not too long ago introduced the launch of the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction which can be awarded for the primary time subsequent yr.