Samantha Harvey won the prestigious award for a wonder-filled novel, set aboard the International Space Station, that ponders the beauty and fragility of Earth.

Before Tuesday night, the author Samantha Harvey had got used to thinking of herself as a bit of an underdog. “It’s not out of self-pity, but I definitely saw myself as being on the periphery,” she says.

British writer Samantha Harvey won the prestigious Booker Prize on Tuesday for her short novel following six astronauts as they contemplate Earth from the International Space Station, AFP reported.