A novel set in Nazi-occupied France, a debut collection of short stories and a post-apocalyptic tale are among the finalists announced on Wednesday for the 2014 National Book Awards.
The National Book Foundation revealed the finalists in four categories — fiction, nonfiction, young people's literature and poetry — for the prize,s which will be awarded on Nov. 19 in New York.
"One of the things I think stands out is that four of the five books have this civil strife behind them, and I wonder if that is a zeitgeist that is going around in the world of fiction," said Harold Augenbraum, the executive director of the National Book Foundation.