From the Academy

The Academy is a great store of knowledge and opinion about great books. From time to time we ask its members to write a short piece on books they have admired. Here are some of their responses, most recently about the books shortlisted for the 2014 Prize, and further back about the one book they would have liked to win the Prize if it had always existed.

Jon Cook on For Love Alone by Christina Stead (1945)

Christina Stead’s For Love Alone, first published in 1945, is a novel of passionate intelligence and sharp irony. Stead is one of the great writers of the 20th century, whose work seems increasingly difficult to find and For Love Alone is one of her best books.