LONDON, June 11 (UPI) -- Serbian-American author Tea Obreht has won England's Orange Prize for Fiction for her debut novel "The Tiger's Wife."
The Daily Telegraph said Obreht, 25, is the youngest scribe to win the honor.
She was presented with the prize of nearly $49,000 this week at a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Obreht penned her novel as part of a creative writing class at Cornell University. The book is about a young doctor trying to unravel the mystery surrounding her beloved grandfather's death, the Telegraph said.
Broadcaster and historian Bettany Hughes, the chair of the judging panel, said: "Obreht's powers of observation and her understanding of the world are remarkable. By skillfully spinning a series of magical tales she has managed to bring the tragedy of chronic Balkan conflict thumping into our front rooms with a bittersweet vivacity."
