Mental health nurse is shock winner of £30,000 Costa Book Award

33-year-old Nathan Filer won for his book 'The Shock of the Fall'.

16:15 29 January 2014

33-year-old mental health nurse Nathan Filer has managed to surprise the literary world after bagging Costa Book Award for his first novel entitled The Shock of the Fall.

Drawing from his experience in the medical profession, he wrote about the descent of one of two brothers towards schizophrenia after a tragic accident.

He beat several contenders including bookies’ favourite Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life After Life. The judges described Filer’s book as “astonishingly sure-footed.”

A spokesman for booksellers Waterstones said: "This is a real giant killer of a winner, and shows the Costa is as exciting as the other major literary prizes.

"The smart money was on Life After Life. But Atkinson's was not the only book people were reading and, essentially, talking about in 2013.

"This will make The Shock of the Fall a major best-seller, and put its multi-talented author firmly on the literary map."

Meanwhile, Nathan said that he did not write the novel to create awareness about a mental illness. He said: "I didn't set out to write about mental illness or schizophrenia, I set out to write about this character and his illness is one aspect of his character and there are many more than that".

He was awarded £30,000 as his prize.