Orange Prize longlist features past winner Helen Dunmore
Former winner Helen Dunmore is among the contenders for this year's UK Orange Prize For Fiction.
Her novel The Siege is included on the 20-strong longlist for the women-only award.
The shortlist will revealed on April 30 and the winner announced at a ceremony in London on June 11.
Dunmore won in 1996 for A Spell Of Winter.
The longlist also includes Chocolat author Joanne Harris for Five Quarters Of The Orange.
The prize, worth £30,000, is the UK's richest annual fiction award.
It is given to the best novel of the year written in English by a woman.
Radio 4's former Today presenter Sue MacGregor, who is chairwoman of the judges, said: "All of these books absorbed and entertained us.
"Each judge has their favourite, but several novels are already outstanding contenders for the Orange prize.
"It's been hugely rewarding to discover so many fine and talented writers relatively fresh on the scene."
The full list is:
Kitty Aldridge, Pop
Anna Burns, No Bones
Jennifer Clement, A True Story Based On Lies
Stevie Davies, The Element Of Water
Helen Dunmore, The Siege
Maggie Gee, The White Family
Lesley Glaister, Now You See Me
Joanne Harris, Five Quarters Of The Orange
Chloe Hooper, A Child's Books Of True Crime
Elizabeth McCracken, Niagara Falls All Over Again
Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life Of Bees
Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age
Kathy Page, The Story Of My Face
Ann Patchett, Bel Canto
Nani Power, Crawling At Night
Lily Prior, La Cucina
Anita Rau Badami, The Hero's Walk
Emma Richler, Sister Crazy
Rachel Seiffert, The Dark Room
Sarah Waters, Fingersmith
