Sophie Mackintosh (born 1988)[1] is a British novelist and short story writer. Her debut novel, The Water Cure, was nominated for the
2018 Man Booker Prize.[2] In 2023, she was named on the
Granta Best of Young British Novelists list, compiled every 10 years since 1983, identifying the 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40.[3]
Biography
Mackintosh was born in
South Wales and grew up in
Pembrokeshire.[4] When she started writing, her initial focus was on poetry.[5] She eventually gravitated towards prose fiction, which she has combined with holding various jobs during her 20s.[4]
Mackintosh's first novel The Water Cure was released in May 2018. According to The Guardian's review, the novel exposes the parts of real life that are usually not confronted in the world.[7] British book editor Hermione Thompson who works for Penguin books and published the novel, wrote about the novel, “The Water Cure is an astonishing novel: it unfolds seductively, like a dream (or a nightmare), yet speaks urgently to the concerns of our own world. It heralds the arrival of a radical new voice in literary fiction.”[8]
Her second novel, Blue Ticket, was published in September 2020. It is set in a future where women are only allowed to become mothers through a lottery of blue and white tickets. The Times called it "gripping, ethereal."[9]
In 2023, Mackintosh's was named on the
Granta Best of Young British Novelists list, compiled every 10 years since 1983, identifying the 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40.[3][11]