The Accidental Whitbread Award Winner

Scottish author Ali Smith won this year's Whitbread Novel Award for The Accidental, in which the arrival of a mysterious 12-year-old upsets the delicate balance of a prosperous English family.

The first time novelist and former college lecturer beat out heavy hitters Nick Hornby (A Long Way Down) and Salman Rushdie (Shalimar the Clown) and will be entered as a finalist for Whitbread Book of the Year, to be announced January 24.