12/06/2026
Congratulations to Alice Jolly, winner of the Walter Scott Prize 2026 for THE MATCHBOX GIRL.
The novel 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 N**i occupation.
Alice was presented with her prize by Walter Scott’s great-great-great-great grandson, Matthew Maxwell Scott, at a ceremony at the Borders Book Festival yesterday evening.
Talking about her novel, Alice said:
“My book started with the simple question – who was Dr Asperger? However, as I worked, I began to realise that Asperger’s forgotten colleagues were perhaps more interesting than he was. I became obsessed with bringing them into the light and celebrating the ways in which the staff of the Curative Education Ward in Vienna struggled to hold onto their research, and their principles, despite finding themselves in the eye of the most evil storm of the twentieth century.”
Read more about Alice Jolly and her prize-winning work of historical fiction, THE MATCHBOX GIRL, via the link: https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/alice-jolly-wins-2026-walter-scott-prize
