Ventriloquist'S Tale, The

Description: The whole purpose of magic is the fulfilment and intensification of desire, claims the ventriloquist-narrator as he tells his stories of love and catastrophe. The novel is a parable of miscegenation and racial exclusiveness, of nature defying culture and of the rebellious nature of love. Prizes: Winner of Whitbread Prize (First Novel) 1997. Winner of Whitbread Book Awards: First Novel Category 1997. Shortlisted for Orange Prize for Fiction 1998. Author Biography: Pauline Melville's first book, Shape-shifter, a collection of short stories, won the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Macmillan Silver Pen Award and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book. The Ventriloquist's Tale is her first novel.