Naomi Alderman, 32, won the prize for her her first novel, Disobedience. The award - and a cheque for £5000 - was presented at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival by the Sunday Times Editor, John Witherow.

The judges Susannah Herbert (literary editor), Andrew Holgate (deputy literary editor) and Peter Kemp (fiction editor) were unanimous in their choice, singling out Alderman's book for its wit, its pace, its intelligence and daring.

Susannah Herbert, the chairperson of the judges, said: "The heroine's confrontation with the tradition-bound faith of her fathers could, in other hands, have been a one-sided battle. But you have given both sides a fair hearing: you have created a space where moral complexity is allowed to exist. You may be a 'young' writer as defined by this award, but this is a very grown-up book."

The other shortlisted authors were::
- Horatio Clare, for his memoir Running For the Hills,
- Rory Stewart for Occupational Hazards: My Time Governing in Iraq
- John Stubbs for his biography John Donne: The Reformed Soul