The 2026 Prize

The 2026 Walter Scott Prize was won by Alice Jolly for her novel The Matchbox Girl, which tells the story of Adelheid Brunner, a patient of Dr Hans Asperger in the now-infamous Vienna Children’s Hospital during the 1930s, while the city is under Nazi occupation.  Alice received her prize from Walter Scott’s great-great-great-great grandson, Matthew Maxwell Scott, at a ceremony at the Borders Book Festival on Thursday 11^thJune.

The judges said:

“Originality, innovation, ambition  –  The Matchbox Girl not only more than fulfils the judging criteria for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, it confronts a topic of immense complexity in a gripping tour de force. With the skill of a cubist painter, Alice Jolly has altered the angle from which events in Vienna in 1934, and particularly in the Vienna Children’s Hospital, are observed, and a story we think we know is disrupted by a heroine who is speechless yet speaks with disturbing energy. The Matchbox Girl may be the most unusual book you read this year. For its honesty, power and storytelling dexterity, our 2026 winner will also be one of the most important.”

You can see our announcement video here: