VV Ganeshananthan and Naomi Klein win Women’s prizes for

Judges praised Klein’s Doppelganger for its ‘courageous’ study of truth in politics and called Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night a ‘masterpiece’ of historical fiction

Doppelganger by Guardian US columnist Naomi Klein has become the inaugural winner of the Women’s prize for nonfiction, while Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan has been named winner of the fiction prize.

Both books look at how people get swept up in extremism: Doppelganger uses the fact that Klein is regularly confused with feminist turned conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf as a jumping off point for an exploration of truth in politics, discussing populist figures such as Steve Bannon and Donald Trump. Meanwhile Brotherless Night, mostly set in Jaffna during the Sri Lankan civil war, is about a girl who dreams of becoming a doctor before war breaks out in her country and those around her begin to engage with violent political ideologies.

Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan (£9.99) and Doppelganger by Naomi Klein (£25) are both published by Penguin. To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copies at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.