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AUTHOR John Spurling has won a £25,000 literary prize with a "mesmerising" book that was rejected 44 times before being published.

He was awarded the sixth Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for his novel set in imperial China, The Ten Thousand Things.

The book is set in 14th-century China, during the final years of the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty, and is the story of Wang Meng, one of the era's four great masters of painting.

Mr Spurling's fourth novel, it took him 15 years to write and was rejected 44 times before being published by Duckworth last year.

The English author was at the Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, where he was presented with the prize by the Duke of Buccleuch this evening.

The judges said: "The Ten Thousand Things is subtle and rewarding. Through John Spurling's writing you feel as though you are reading Wang Meng's paintings as he created them.

"It is a mesmerising, elegantly drawn picture of old imperial China, which feels remarkably modern."

The other writers shortlisted for the prize were Martin Amis, Helen Dunmore, Hermione Eyre, Adam Foulds, Damon Galgut and Kamila Shamsie.

Extracts from each of the seven shortlisted books were read by broadcaster James Naughtie at the awards ceremony.

Speaking after he was shortlisted, Mr Spurling said: "Absolutely delighted to be shortlisted, especially because I'm a great admirer of Walter Scott, have read all his fiction and have a small bust of him on my bookcase.

"I don't see myself as specifically an historical novelist, since I regard us all as living in continuous history and believe that we can only understand ourselves in the light of history."

The Walter Scott Prize is one of the UK's richest literary prizes, and honours Scott's achievements and his place as one of the world's most influential novelists.

To qualify, novels must be set at least 60 years ago, be written in English, and have been published in the preceding year. The 60-year rule comes from the subtitle of Scott's masterwork Waverley: 'tis Sixty Years Since.

Alistair Moffat, chairman of judges, said: "The judging panel had an apples-vs.-pears choice this year, from a bumper shortlist of seven books - our biggest shortlist ever.

"From the audacity of Martin Amis's concentration camp satire, to a post-modern mash-up of seventeenth-century court and contemporary references, via Sicily, India, Turkey and France, we journeyed and lived ten thousand lives ourselves during the reading and discussion of these books.

"In the end, it was the illumination shone by John Spurling on this fascinating and little-known period that lit us up for the longest time. It is a book which deserves enormous credit, and we hope that the Walter Scott Prize can help bring it for him."