Sarah Waters' The Paying Guests has been nominated for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction - formerly the Orange Prize for Fiction.The Welsh author, who chiefly writes historical lesbian fiction, has been shortlisted for the prestigious award alongside Laline Paull, Ali Smith, Rachel Cusk, Kamila Shamsie and Anne Tyler.
A bestseller, The Paying Guests is set in London in 1922 and tells the tale of a widow and her daughter who take in a married couple as lodgers. As passions mount, drama unfolds in what is both a love and crime story.
Waters' previous novels include the hugely popular Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.
The £30,000 (NZ$59,000) Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction is open to any woman writing in English.
The winner will be announced on 3 June