Which author won the 1974 Booker Prize jointly with Nadine Gordimer?

Stanley Middleton won the 1974 Booker Prize jointly with Nadine Gordimer. Middleton won for his novel Holiday, while Gordimer won for The Conservationist.

Holiday follows Edwin Fisher, a lecturer spending time at an English seaside resort after the breakdown of his marriage. Much of the novel unfolds through Fisher’s thoughts, examining grief, jealousy, memory and emotional isolation. Its quiet, inward style contrasts with the political and allegorical sweep of Gordimer’s novel.

The 1974 result was unusual because the judges could not separate the two books. It was only the second tie in the prize’s history, after the 1970 award was shared by Bernice Rubens and J. G. Farrell. Middleton, born in 1929, was an English novelist and teacher who published more than 40 novels, but Holiday remains his best-known work.

A common mix-up is to name one of the other shortlisted authors, such as David Storey or Paul Scott. They were contenders, but Middleton was Gordimer’s joint winner.