Rebecca Perry won the £5,000 (about $6,725) 2026 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for her novel May We Feed the King. The company wrote, "A dreamlike adventure in history, imagination and the human heart, May We Feed the King follows a curator tasked with bringing a medieval palace to life for its 750-year anniversary. Reeling from a personal loss, she delves into the house's archives and is drawn deeper into the mystery of one of its former occupants: a reluctant ruler, surrounded by courtiers scheming to replace him.
"Asking how we view the past and how to reconcile with what is lost, Perry’s mischievously clever novel blends curiosity with compassion and rare lyrical power to deliver a beautifully haunting, ever-relatable tale about our relationship with the past, truth and each other."
Bea Carvalho, head of books, Waterstones, added: "May We Feed the King stood out for its crisp, cool prose, and its playfully enigmatic approach to storytelling. With a poet's eye for detail and a keen sense of humor, Perry grapples with the slippery nature of memory and the burden of power."