HARBOR by Lorraine Adams makes longlist for the Guardian First Book Award 2006.

2006 has been a good year for Lorraine Adams. The American writer's debut novel, Harbor, was published in the UK in March to critical acclaim and was immediately longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Now, as the year begins to draw to an end, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist finds herself on the longlist for a second major UK award, the Guardian First Book Award.

Claire Armitstead, Guardian Books Editor, said of the longlist "Every year seems to have a distinct personality and this year's seems to be a tremendous intellectual confidence and return to the first principles of literary quality. what all the books on the longlist show is that vigorous, engaged and elegant writing is thriving among a generation that has taken on board the contradictions and challenges of the modern world without being remotely coarsened or dumbed down by it."

Acclaim for Harbor by Lorraine Adams:

'A powerful novel, timely yet timeless, showing how those who are on the margins can be swept into the net of the "war against terrorism". Brilliantly evoked and beautifully written.' Helena Kennedy

'Annie Proulx is not mistaken in pronouncing Harbor 'brilliant'. Impressively imagined, it's written with stunning stylistic flair.' The Sunday Times

'Harbor is a bold and urgent undertaking, a book whose contemporary relevance is especially welcome when so many accomplished novelists are diving into historical fiction and the relative safety of the past.' Observer

Lorraine Adam's Harbor is available as a paperback original now from Portobello Books, RRP £7.99, ISBN 1 84627 034 0 .

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