Colm Tóibín has been awarded the prestigious Los Angeles TimesBook Award for The Master, his novel about the life of Henry James .
The Masterwas previously been short-listed for The Man Booker Prize, The WHSmith Award, The British Book Awards & The Hughes & Hughes/ Sunday IndependentNovel of the Year.
In the novel, Tóibín concentrates on the five years (1895-99) during which James suffered a kind of midlife personal and artistic crisis.
The Los Angeles Timescitation described the novel as "an illumination of the very process of writing itself - a compelling, richly rewarding and utterly original work of fiction about family and friendship and art in the Modern Age."
