THE winner of this year's Man Booker Prize will be announced tonight, with Jim Crace's Harvest the bookie’s favourite to take home the £50,000 award.
Crace, who has said Harvest is likely to be his last novel, is at 67 the oldest author on the shortlist of six.
Wexford author Colm Toibin, 58, is the only Irish novelist on the shortlist and has been nominated for his novel, The Testament of Mary.
The novel is about the mother of Jesus grieving angrily years after her son's crucifixion. At a little over 100 pages, it would be the shortest novel to win the Booker.
He is third favourite to win the prize at 4/1.
Crace’s closest rival in the betting is 27-year-old Eleanor Catton who is the youngest on the shortlist and is nominated for her book The Luminaries.
The winner will be revealed on tonight at 9.30pm in London's Guildhall and will be presented by the Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
The other authors on the shortlist are NoViolet Bulawayo, for We Need New Names; Jhumpa Lahiri, for The Lowland and Ruth Ozeki, for A Tale for the Time Being.
Both William Hill and Paddy Power have Crace as favourite at 5/4 with Ladbrokes giving him 6/4.
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