Booker Prize Winner

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

by Richard Flanagan

Summary

Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted, decades after the war, by his time as a prisoner of the Japanese on the Thailand-Burma Death Railway and by a love affair that preceded it. Flanagan moves between jungle, hospital, and memory with a cadence shaped by haiku and classical Japanese poetry. The novel grapples with heroism, cruelty, and how survivors learn to live inside their own legends.

Historical Context & Significance

The first year the prize was opened to authors from any country, including the United States.