Author Lionel Shriver wins literary prize

Author Lionel Shriver Tuesday won the British Orange Prize for Fiction for her seventh novel "We Need to Talk about Kevin."

In awarding the $55,000 prize to Shriver in London, the judges called her book about a mother unable to love her murderous son "very courageous," the BBC reported.

Judge Chairwoman Jenni Murray of the BBC Radio 4's "Woman's Hour" said the book would "resonate with everyone who has had a child or thought about having one."

Shriver, 48, said she changed her name to Lionel from Margaret Ann when she was only 15 because she thought men had an easier life.

She has residences in London and New York.

British author Diana Evans won the $18,000 Orange Award for New Writers with her debut novel "26a."

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