Take a look at the new crop of twenty-something female writers making waves on the literary scene, and prepare to be seriously impressed by what they've already accomplished...
1. Hannah Kent
The 28-year-old Aussie got her first break when she won a national competition for unpublished manuscripts. Her debut historical crime novel, Burial Rites, is based on an Icelandic murderer who was executed (it took her just three-and-a-half months to complete the first draft), and her next project follows an 1820s criminal case in Ireland. Agatha Christie, eat your heart out...
2. Samantha Shannon
The 21-year-old is a complete protégée - the buzz around her debut novel, The Bone Season, has been epic. It's the first of a stonking seven-book series that Samantha will pen over the coming years. And it's even been optioned for a film adaptation by Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis. Pretty impressive given that Samantha wrote it during her second year of university...
3. Eleanor Catton
The 28-year-old's second novel, The Luminaries, was recently named the 2013 Man Booker Prize Winner, making the New Zealander the youngest person to ever receive the prize. The book is also the longest (at 832 pages) to ever win the accolade. Talk about an accomplishment...
10 award-winning books you'll wish you'd read sooner