Five winning book vie for top Costa prize

Scottish writer Ali Smith's inventive How to Be Both, which is divided into two parts, each starting with a different character, was named the winner in the novel category on Monday for Britain's 2014 Costa Book Awards.

Smith's critically acclaimed novel, which also was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, contains the twin stories of George and Franchescho, one a 1960s teenager, the other a young artist in 15th-century Ferrara, which can be read in either order.

A winner of the same award in 2005 for The Accidental, Smith's novel will contend with four other books for the main Costa Book of the Year award, to be announced on Jan 27.