A poetry collection by the late British writer Helen Dunmore has won the $42,000 dollar Costa book prize which judges the best overall book of the year by writers based in Britain and Ireland.

“Inside the Wave” was published two months before Dunmore died of cancer last year at age of 64 and reflects on the intertwined worlds of life and death.  The chair of the judging panel called the collection “life affirming and uplifting.”

The other finalists were Gail Honeyman’s debut novel “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine”, Rebecca Stott’s memoir “In the Days of Rain”, John McGregor’s novel “Reservoir 13”  and children’s book  “The Explorer” by Katherine Rundell.