An Appalachian update on Charles Dickens and a tale told by a dolphin are among six finalists for the prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction.

FILE - Author Maggie O'Farrell poses for the media at the Costa book awards in London on Jan. 25, 2011. O'Farrell's "Hamnet," an imagined take on the death of Shakespeare's son from the bubonic plague, has won the National Book Critics Circle prize for fiction. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)NEW YORK – Maggie O'Farrell's “Hamnet,” an imagined take on the death of Shakespeare's son from the bubonic plague, has won the National Book Critics Circle prize for fiction. “Hamnet,” an unfortunately well timed story for the current pandemic, explores the impact of the boy's illness and death on his family. The book critics circle was founded in 1974 and has hundreds of members around the country.